NHS hospitals have been asked to postpone some non-urgent elective operations to protect blood stocks, after NHS Blood and Transplant issued an “amber alert” over supplies.

The agency, which triggered the alert on 12 October, urged donors to come forward and help by filling empty appointments at donor centres. It said O blood groups were in particular need.

Decisions over which operations to postpone will be taken by individual hospitals, but NHSBT advised that procedures such as hip replacements could be swapped for other operations such as hernia repairs, gall bladder removal, and eye surgery that do not require blood to be on standby.