Using these guidelines
The Whole Blood and Components Donor Selection Guidelines (WB-DSG) apply to donors giving whole blood or blood components (red cells, platelets, plasma and granulocytes) for therapeutic use.
The WB-DSG forms a constituent part of Chapter 3 of the Guidelines for the Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services in the UK.
JPAC is responsible for these guidelines and receives professional advice from its specialist Standing Advisory Committees and other relevant expert groups. The WB-DSG is primarily reviewed and updated by the Standing Advisory Committee on Care and Selection of Donors (SACCSD). It is reviewed regularly to ensure that donations are of the highest quality and of sufficient quantity to meet the needs of recipients.
Comments about the content of the WB-DSG, including notification of errors, omissions and suggestions for improvements, should be sent to JPACOffice@nhsbt.nhs.uk.
General principles
Important
These guidelines are for healthcare professionals who are trained in their use.
JPAC cannot answer individual donor queries or provide personal medical advice. Help with such matters may be available through a local blood and tissue service.
Donations must not be accepted from donors who exhibit health risks that are not listed in these guidelines without referral to, and acceptance by, a Designated Clinical Support Officer.
Donors are selected firstly to ensure that they do not come to harm from giving their donation and secondly to ensure that their donation is unlikely to harm any recipient.
The ultimate responsibility for the selection of donors rests with the Medical Director of each UK Blood and Tissue Service (UKBTS).
The immediate responsibility is with the Qualified Healthcare Professional in clinical charge of an individual donor session. When it is not clear from these guidelines if an individual donor is suitable, no donation should be taken until it has been discussed and agreed with a Designated Clinical Support Officer.
Only persons in good health should be accepted as donors. The prospective donor must be evaluated for their fitness to donate on the day by a suitably qualified person who has undergone appropriate training to use these guidelines to select or defer a donor. They must verify their assessment by signing the donation record.
Special note must be taken of the content of the Blood safety entry.
It is the responsibility of session staff to ensure that donors clearly understand the nature of the donation process and the associated risks involved, as explained in the available literature. The donors must also understand the health check and other medical information presented to them. Donors are asked about confidential aspects of their medical history, hence great care must be taken over privacy and confidentiality.
Where there is separate guidance for Whole Blood and for Component donors, this is made clear. When there is a recognised risk to either the donor or the recipient, the guidelines must be followed.
Autologous transfusion
These guidelines do not apply to donors wishing to give their blood for autologous transfusions. Specific guidelines should be referred to.
Non-therapeutic donations
Donors whose serum, plasma or cells will be used for laboratory, rather than therapeutic, purposes are generally subject to the same medical selection criteria. However, some decisions regarding their suitability to donate may be varied by a Designated Clinical Support Officer.
Therapeutic venesection
Patients referred for therapeutic venesection must not be accepted at donor sessions. The exception is donors with haemochromatosis. They may be accepted after referral to, and consideration by, a Designated Clinical Support Officer.
Use of the A to Z index
Any medical condition or possible contraindication to donation, elicited at any point during the donation process, must be managed as indicated by its respective guideline entry. A complete list of available entries can be found in the A to Z index. Any collected material which, as a result, is unsuitable for clinical use must be clearly labelled as unfit for use.
If there is more than one contraindication to donation, any that indicate the need to permanently defer the donor must be applied. This will mean that the donor is withdrawn from the donor panel. If withdrawal is not required, then the longest applicable deferral period must be applied.
Donors who undergo component donation procedures may be subject to additional or separate criteria compared to whole blood donors. Reference should be made to Chapter 3 of the Red Book.
Any new health risks identified during the donor selection process should be notified to SACCSD so that they can be considered for incorporation into future revisions of the WB-DSG.
Guideline terminology
Please note, not all of the terms given below appear on every guideline entry.
Medication
The underlying illness suffered by a donor, rather than the properties of any drug they are taking, is the usual reason for an ineligiblity to donate.
In general, traces of drugs in donations are harmless to their recipients. However, donors treated with certain drugs are deferred for periods associated with the pharmacokinetic properties of the drug. Examples are drugs used to treat acne, psoriasis, and some prostate problems. All such drugs have their own entry.
Drugs that can affect platelet function are listed in the drug index together with the deferral period required before a donor's blood can be used for platelet production.
Inspection of the donor
All donors should appear to be in good health and the skin at the venepuncture site should be free from disease.
Intoxication, either by alcohol or drugs, should be a reason for not accepting a donor (see Addiction and drug abuse).
A qualified clinical professional must assess disabled donors (see Disabled donor).
Version control
The WB-DSG is under the continuing review of SACCSD and the Standing Advisory Committee on Transfusion Transmitted Infection (SACTTI) to ensure that they are accurate and up to date.
All changes are the responsibility of the Professional Director of JPAC and have the approval of the Executive Working Group (EWG) and the JPAC Board.
The Quality Manager of each UKBTS will be notified of upcoming changes by electronic distribution of a Change Notification.
The Quality Manager is responsible for effecting changes to locally held copies of the guidelines, or to information adapted from the guidelines for use within their respective service. An effective version control and change procedure must be in place to ensure only current versions of the guidelines are in use and that all authorised copies, electronic and paper, are traceable.
Live version of the guidelines (this website)
The website will always display the current version of each guideline entry, as shown in the A to Z index, and each entry will shown the date of its most recent update. Changes will be published on the website on the effective date given in the relevant Change Notification.
Offline version of the guidelines (source files)
A source file is a downloadable copy of the guidelines. A source file containing the current version of the guidelines is always available on the Source files page.
In addition, whenever a Change Notification is distributed to indicate upcoming changes, an updated source file incorporating those changes will be made available. This will supersede the current source file on the effective date of the Change Notification and any previous source files will be removed.
Last updated in WB-DSG Edition 203 Release 80 (1 May 2026)