IBTS will be 'Brexit ready', annual report states

The ITBS is "well-placed" to deal with a  no-deal Brexit. File picture: Simon Dawson/PA Wire

The Irish Blood Transfusion Board has said it will be "Brexit ready", even though it admitted that costs would "inevitably" rise in the short term. 

The IBTS annual report for 2019 also showed an increase in the number of donors and the overall quantity of blood donated last year, as well as a modest increase in the number of first-time donors.

"Brexit planning dominated executive risk reviews in the early part of 2019 to ensure that contingencies were in place for suppliers, and to ensure that supply chain disruption, if it were to take place, would be mitigated to the best degree possible," Linda Hickey, IBTS chairwoman wrote in the report. "Some of our costs will inevitably rise in the short term as a result of Brexit."

However, she said: "The IBTS is well placed to deal with a no-deal Brexit, were it to occur."

In his contribution to the report, Andrew Kelly, IBTS chief executive said: "The IBTS had undertaken extensive planning and taken appropriate measures to mitigate the impact of this scenario [a no-deal Brexit]. These measures were maintained and have been very beneficial in dealing with the pandemic."

The IBTS medical  and  scientific director, Professor Stephen Field, flagged another concern which he said needed to be addressed.

"Ireland has a growing immigrant population, some of whom have transfusion-dependent sickle-cell anaemia," he said. 

"As many of these patients have a different Rh phenotype (R0) to that generally seen in Irish donors (R1), demand for Rh-negative blood has increased. In order to meet the demands of the R0 patients, it would be desirable to recruit donors from the black community.

"However, many of this community have been exposed to malaria and this is potentially transmissible via blood. The IBTS will be introducing malaria antibody testing in 2020. This intervention will also serve to reduce the time that people are deferred on returning from holidays or business in countries with an endemic malaria risk."