JPAC Joint United Kingdom (UK) Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee

3.14: Physical examination of donors

3.14.1: General considerations

A detailed medical assessment procedure must be conducted on all donors, as referred to above, i.e. based on the JPAC Donor Selection Guidelines.1 Particular attention is required for the assessment of first-time or ‘returning’ donors. Returning donors are defined as those who – although formerly registered as a blood donor with one of the four national Blood Transfusion Services – have not been assessed for donation for 2 years or more.

Assessment of blood pressure is not recommended because the circumstances at blood collection sessions are not conducive to obtaining meaningful measurements. Routine measurement of blood pressure could also give the impression that Blood Establishments offer a general health screening service which might be construed as an inducement to donate.

Inspection of the donor: The donor should be in good health. Note should be taken of poor physique, debilitation, under-nutrition, plethora, jaundice, cyanosis, dyspnoea, intoxication and mental instability. When in doubt the donor should be deferred until further advice has been obtained from a designated clinical support officer.

3.14.2: Weight

There is a minimum legal donor weight of 50kg at which a donation can be accepted.
In young women there is a significant risk of fainting if their donation exceeds 15% of their estimated blood volume (EBV). See Appendix 1 in the JPAC Donor Selection Guidelines.1

For the collection of double units of red cells by apheresis, special considerations apply. Male and female donors must be greater than 70 kg in weight.

Last updated 06/07/2021