The Life Blood Podcast is brought to you by the Western Cape Blood Service (WCBS) and is available on YouTube and Spotify. In episode two, Dr Caroline Hilton, the WCBS Lead Medical Consultant, shares with us some reasons why the Blood Service sometimes turns people away from donating blood.
Listen in as we open this seven-question interview with finding out why it is necessary to have such a detailed donor questionnaire and interview process:
“…we want to establish if there is any risk to them (the donor) donating or the person receiving the blood.” – Dr Caroline Hilton
Dr Hilton goes on to explain how often donors are turned away, the reasons for this, how the deferral criteria are selected and whether they are reviewed. She addresses the query of why WCBS does not collect as much blood as possible and simply test it to make sure that it is safe, and the procedure for a donor to follow when they forget to disclose information that could compromise the safety of their blood products.
We hope that this episode improves your understanding about the importance of the donor self-exclusion questionnaire (SEQ) and other preventative measures that WCBS undertakes to ensure donor and patient safety.
For more information about donor deferrals, contact Dr Caroline Hilton, Lead Medical Consultant (Caroline@wcbs.org.za).
