Latest news with #UK-sourced
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Kent NHS patients benefit from UK-sourced plasma
NHS patients in Kent are receiving lifesaving medicines made from the blood plasma of UK donors for the first time in 25 years after a long-standing ban was lifted. Locally-sourced immunoglobulin, which can only be made from human blood, has so far been used to treat more than 200 people in the county, reducing reliance on imports. A NHS Blood and Transplant spokesperson said: "The news is important because there is a global shortage of plasma medicines." Denise Dowsing, from Maidstone, who has common variable immune deficiency, said: "This medicine changed my life - I think it has saved my life". Karen Edmunds, from Ashford, said her health was transformed when she started on plasma medicine after a life-time of infections and illnesses. She gives herself a weekly home infusion of immunoglobulin. She said: "It feels safer and more convenient to get it at home. "It's meant I am able to fight off infections more easily." Plasma makes up 55% of human blood and contains antibodies which strengthen or stabilise the immune system. The antibodies are separated out and made into medicines which treat people with life-limiting illnesses such as immune deficiencies. Over the past three years, blood donors in Kent have supplied around 17,000 litres of plasma, enough to make around 7,600 bottles of immunoglobulin. This could save or improve around 230 lives a year, according to the NHS. Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust treated 92 patients with immunoglobulin in the last reported year. Dr Susan Walsh, chief executive officer of Immunodeficiency UK, said: "This is a historic moment – patients from Kent can now get lifesaving and life-improving immunoglobulin medicine made from the plasma of UK blood and plasma donors." Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. First patients get UK-sourced plasma in generation UK blood supplies to be used for life-saving drug NHS Blood and Transplant
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Tree planting to remember those lost during Covid
A council is marking five years since the Covid pandemic by planting trees in a woodland. Wokingham Borough Council said it planned to plant more than 6,700 trees across the 7.7-hectare plot, which lies immediately north of California Country Park. The council said the Covid Memorial Wood "will become a lasting tribute to those we lost during the coronavirus pandemic". The authority is encouraging residents to join the community in planting trees to "support this meaningful cause" between 19 and 22 March. The project, supported by the Woodland Trust's Emergency Tree Fund, is part of an ongoing effort to plant trees across the borough to tackle the climate emergency. The woodland will feature a mix of British and UK-sourced and grown stock. It will consist of 17 different species suitable for the site conditions, including field maple, hornbeam, hazel, holly, wild cherry, and English oak, among others. Wildflower seeding takes place later this spring and summer. Additionally, the council plans to create footpaths to help residents visit the woodland. The council said: "The woodland will serve as a lasting memorial for many generations, while also helping increase biodiversity in the borough." "This is a great opportunity to give back to the community and contribute to tackling the climate emergency." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Wokingham Borough Council The Woodland Trust's Emergency Tree Fund
BBC News
11-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
Berkshire tree planting to remember those lost during Covid
A council is marking five years since the Covid pandemic by planting trees in a Borough Council said it planned to plant more than 6,700 trees across the 7.7-hectare plot, which lies immediately north of California Country council said the Covid Memorial Wood "will become a lasting tribute to those we lost during the coronavirus pandemic".The authority is encouraging residents to join the community in planting trees to "support this meaningful cause" between 19 and 22 March. The project, supported by the Woodland Trust's Emergency Tree Fund, is part of an ongoing effort to plant trees across the borough to tackle the climate woodland will feature a mix of British and UK-sourced and grown will consist of 17 different species suitable for the site conditions, including field maple, hornbeam, hazel, holly, wild cherry, and English oak, among seeding takes place later this spring and summer. Additionally, the council plans to create footpaths to help residents visit the council said: "The woodland will serve as a lasting memorial for many generations, while also helping increase biodiversity in the borough.""This is a great opportunity to give back to the community and contribute to tackling the climate emergency." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
06-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
First NHS patients receive plasma from UK donors in 25 years
NHS patients are now receiving lifesaving medicines made from the blood plasma of UK donors for the first time in 25 years after a long-standing ban was blood donors are playing a part in the "landmark moment", which will reduce the UK's reliance on imported Hessey from Bicester said it had saved the life of her daughter Bella who has a rare heart Susan Walsh, CEO of Immunodeficiency UK, said they "urge" people in the county to try blood donation. The lifesaving medicines, most important of which is immunoglobulin, can only be made from human blood. Plasma makes up 55% of it and contains antibodies which strengthen or stabilise the immune antibodies are separated out and made into medicines which treat people with life limiting illnesses such as immune NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), which provides England-wide blood, plasma and platelet donation service and organ donation service for the UK, said that across Oxfordshire, hundreds of people receive immunoglobulin each year. It added that over the past three years, local blood donors had supplied about "5,000 litres of plasma, enough to make around 2,200 bottles of immunoglobulin, which is enough to save or improve around 60 lives a year".NHSBT said the new supply would "bolster supplies to the NHS", which is important in the face of the global shortage of plasma medicines. Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director NHS England, said the "landmark moment" ensured patients relying on crucial plasma-derived medicines "will always have access to the treatment they need".The UK banned the use of domestically collected plasma in 1998, following concerns over a potential increase of recipients getting Creutzfeldt-Jakob ban was lifted in February 2021. 'Positive difference' The first patient to be given UK-sourced plasma was Jill Jones, who received the medicine at the John Radcliffe Hospital in was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, 20 years ago and receives treatment every three weeks."Transfusions have been life-changing for me in keeping me well," Ms Jones said."Before I started on them, I was regularly in hospital with infections - which just doesn't happen now. Ms Hessey, 28, said her daughter had been diagnosed for Kawasaki disease as a potentially fatal condition, where the blood vessels around the heart can be damaged, includes symptoms such as a whole-body rash, red eyes and a high received immunoglobulin, the effect of which was "instant"."Straight away, her colour came back to normal. By the next morning, she was eating and her fever had completely gone," Ms Hessey said."It saved her life. We were very lucky that we had such amazing doctors at the JR. "It's a relief to know we're now making it from local blood donations too."Donation can also be made at three specialist sites in Birmingham, London and Reading. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Sky News
06-03-2025
- Health
- Sky News
NHS patients receiving UK-sourced plasma for the first time in a generation
NHS patients have begun receiving blood plasma medicine from UK donors for the first time in a generation. Plasma donations were paused in 1998 due to fears over the spread of a human variant of vCJD - commonly referred to as mad cow disease. But donations were restarted in 2021 after scientists concluded they were safe to be used. However, the health service is now working to build its own supply of plasma medicines amid a global shortage, as it is currently reliant on imports, costing the NHS up to £10m a year. Among the patients to benefit from plasma treatment is four-year-old Ruby Harris, from Norwich. She was given a plasma treatment called albumin for a serious liver issue. Ruby has portal hypertension - meaning she has high blood pressure in one of the major veins leading into her liver. Her mum, Leah, told Sky News: "At the time, I didn't realise how serious and extraordinary the treatment was. "In the moment, all you want is for your child to be okay, and you're not always taking it all in. But now, I realise that Ruby was probably one of the youngest to have this treatment, and it's crazy to know people out there are saving lives by just giving up an hour of their day to donate. "Because without it, I don't know where Ruby would be." 'She is now thriving' Ruby first became ill at 17 weeks, and later collapsed at a toddler group when she was 18 months old. Doctors discovered she was born with a spleen so small it is regarded as "non functioning", which means she is more prone to infections. She was initially given two blood transfusions. In 2022, she fell ill for a third time, and her eyes began to yellow, the sign of a liver problem. She was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus, and was in acute liver failure as a result. During treatment, her liver failure caused her abdomen to fill with excess fluid and while the fluid needed to be released she also lost albumin, a protein which helps blood to flow through the body. To replace it, she was given a plasma transfusion and now - although she remains at risk of future complications - is "thriving", her mother said. While Leah is not able to donate due to a blood disorder, Ruby's dad, Craig, now donates regularly. "Donors saved my daughter's life," said Leah, who has been together with Craig for 15 years. 'A significant milestone' Jill Jones made history by becoming the first patient to be given UK-sourced plasma since the ban was lifted at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. She has received treatments every three weeks following a diagnosis of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma 20 years ago. She called the transfusions as "life-changing". Health Minister Baroness Gillian Merron called the use of UK donors a "significant milestone" towards self-sufficiency. She said: "By sourcing our own medicine, we are building a more resilient and domestic medical supply chain and boosting economic growth." Sir Stephen Powis, National Medical Director at NHS England, also dubbed it a "landmark moment".
