Blood restrictions extended to Scotland

New restrictions on blood donors are to be extended to Scotland.

On Tuesday, health secretary John Reid announced that any person in England and Wales who has had a blood transfusion since 1980 will not be able to give blood themselves, due to a possible risk of contracting vCJD, the human form of BSE.

Scotland's health minister Malcolm Chisholm made the same announcement in the Holyrood parliament on Wednesday.

Around 52,000 of the 1.7 million donors in the UK are thought to be affected by the move, of which 6,000 reside in Scotland.

"Mr Chisholm asked the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service to prepare for this eventuality some time ago," said a Scottish Executive spokesman.

Those affected by the ban will be notified by the Scottish Blood Transfusion Service by post.

"It's always a challenge to maintain blood supplies, but we have had a little bit of notice that this announcement was going to be made and we put a plan in place," said a spokesman.

"We're optimistic that an active advertising programme and discussions with hospitals to improve efficiency will prevent a situation where we have a major shortage and have to cancel any operations."