People receiving acupuncture from appropriately qualified practitioners will no longer need to wait four months before donating blood.

For years, many people felt they had to choose between continuing the acupuncture treatment that was helping them and giving blood to help others. Thanks to updated blood donation guidance, that unnecessary barrier is being removed.

As Angus Wells, Consultant in Donor Medicine for NHS Blood and Transplant puts it:

“This means even more people can now give blood and save lives.”

It’s good news for patients.
It’s good news for blood donation.
And it’s good news for public health.

There are conditions to this and each devolved nation will be rolling out this change in their own timelines. As Angus Wells states “Criteria can change so we encourage people to check their eligibility before donating at www.blood.co.uk or call our donor helpline on 0300 123 23 23.”

Read more about what this change means, why it happened, and what it means for future blood donors

UK blood supplies set for a vital boost as donation rules are updated for acupuncture patients