Councillors raise concerns over consultation before Leeds blood donor centre closure

As reported last year, the Leeds Bridle Path Donor Centre in Seacroft was earmarked for closure following a review by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT).

The organisation said it could still meet demand for blood and platelets through collections at its other blood donor centre on the Headrow in Leeds city centre.

But members of Leeds City Council’s Public Health and NHS Scrutiny Board said they were concerned about the closure, which took place last month.

Chairman Coun Peter Gruen said: “We expressed our concern regarding the lack of formal public consultation and that healthcare providers in Leeds seemed unaware of this closure proposal.

“The board were not convinced that the evidence provided sufficient reason to make closure necessary now. We also decided to request a full report on the impact of closure for our September meeting.”

Coun Gruen added that out-of-date contact details appeared to have been used to notify a councillor.

Mike Stredder, director of blood donation for NHSBT, said: “We very much value the opinions of local authorities, and the residents they represent, and we are committed to ensuring that we are as open as possible. Whilst we were not obliged to carry out a public consultation, we wrote to Leeds City Council and local MPs about the proposal before the decision was taken.

“We hope people understand we made this change in order to keep costs for the wider NHS as low as possible. We had two donor centres in the city of Leeds just a few miles apart.”