Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the proportion of donated blood which is discarded due to the lack of MHRA authorisation for the use of medically relevant components, other than immunoglobulin and albumin, from blood donated in the UK.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood services in England. NHSBT Logistics plays a key role in planning for, collecting, and delivering lifesaving and life changing donated blood products to hospitals across England. However, NHS England owns and manages the contract with Octapharma to fractionate and produce medicines, including immunoglobulin and albumin. These medicines have been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to reflect the priorities of the National Health Service.

No blood is discarded by NHSBT due to MHRA authorisations. If there are any discarded fractions by Octapharma, NHSBT does not hold this information. All of the plasma that meets the requirements for use in medicines is forwarded to Octapharma for fractionation, and the specific manufacturing arrangements are subject to commercial confidentiality.