Sixth Cord Blood Donation Centre Opens in London

Medical professionals across the United Kingdom are dedicated to increasing the supply of cord blood units in order to help more patients receive treatment for life-threatening diseases. The opening of a new cord blood donation centre in London will help them to accomplish this goal.  

The new collection service at London’s University College Hospital (UCH) will be NHS Blood and Transplant’s (NHSBT) sixth cord blood collection site to open in the area. At the hospital, expecting mothers can register to be a donor. At the same time, they can provide their consent for the collection, use and testing of their baby’s sample.  

NHSBT will manage the collection site. All donations will be stored by the NHS Cord Blood Bank in Bristol, which is also managed by NHS Blood and Transplant. 

"We are delighted to be opening our sixth cord blood collection facility at UCH”, says Catherine Howell of NHSBT. “We’re giving more mothers the opportunity to donate their cord blood to help seriously-ill patients who may not have found a suitable bone marrow match”.  

UCH’s new cord blood collection centre is just one of the UK’s many initiatives to encourage cord blood banking. The country’s government will spend £4 billion over the course of the next few years to improve stem cell services, including the collection of cord blood and bone marrow, as well as the funding of stem cell research.  

 http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/news/2011/newsrelease021111.html