Donations of blood are just as important as plasma.
That is the impassioned message from WM News reader and healthcare campaigner David McIntosh, of United Plasma Action, after he saw our feature on Birmingham’s Plasma Donor Centre.
David got in touch on LinkedIn fearing our focus on the importance of plasma donations may risk suggesting blood donations aren’t as crucial.
“Yes, yes, YES! Plasma is very precious,” said David.
“But let’s not give anyone the impression that ‘blood’ and ‘plasma’ are two different things.
“Blood – ‘whole blood’ (referring to blood as it circulates in the body) – is a subtle blend of red cells, white cells, platelets and all sorts of other magic ingredients, including plasma (+53%).
Blood is plasma and plasma is blood
“In emphasising the need for more plasma for the production of vital medicines, let’s not forget that all blood donors are giving plasma at their sessions too.
“So-called ‘source plasma,’ from donors who only give plasma, with all other blood ingredients returned to their veins, is needed because the clinical demand (patients’ needs) for plasma-derived medicines, proportionally, far exceeds the demand for red cells. A blood transfusion is almost always actually a transfusion of red cell concentrate.
“My fear is that the current intense focus on plasma, with all its correct emphasis on the vital medicines made from it, may give blood donors the impression that their gifts are somehow less valuable – which, of course, they’re absolutely not.
“To blood donors, I’d just like to emphasise that you are plasma donors too!”
David makes a great point. All donors, be they giving blood or plasma, are helping the NHS save lives.
Who is David McIntosh?
David is life-long blood donor and former general manager of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service.
In 2019 David became the founder and chairman of not-for-profit organisation United Kingdom Plasma Action (UKPA), advocating for government approval for the pharmaceutical use of UK donors’ plasma in the manufacture of vital medicines.
The fruits of that effort started arriving in NHS hospitals in March 2025.
Through United Plasma Action, an international UKPA spin-off, David is now working to help increase the availability of vital plasma-derived medicines for patients in low- and middle-income countries where the need is even greater.
He also works with the international Plasma Medicines community, as an independent adviser.
