A COUNCILLOR has raised concerns about the re-location of blood donation sessions from a town to a village hall.

The NHS blood donation sessions have been held in the Larruperz Centre in Grammar School Close in Ross-on-Wye.

But they are moving out of town to Upton Bishop Village Hall four miles away.

Ross town councillor Phil Cutter said: "It is my concern that if it is moved they are going to lose possible donors because of problems getting there."

He said some of the regular donors may not have access to transport.

Alexandra Low, regional planning manager for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “The Larruperz Centre has served us well in providing space for us to hold blood donation sessions and we would like to thank the organisers for the use of their venue.

“We are constantly reviewing our blood donation programme and from time to time we need to reassess where we hold blood donation sessions. We are moving towards a blood donation programme where we hold sessions in larger venues so we can accommodate nine chairs at any one time. This enables us to be more targeted in how and where we collect blood to treat patients.

“Hospital demand has fallen over recent years and we need to match that demand with the amount of blood we supply, whilst at the same time making sure we run our sessions as efficiently and effectively as possible.

"Because of this we sometimes need to review where we hold sessions. We have decided to relocate from the Larruperz Centre to Upton Bishop to enable us to run nine bed sessions while maintaining donor confidentiality and safety."

She said that these decisions are not made lightly and said unfortunately, the Larruperz Centre no longer offers the space needed for a nine bed session.

Ms Low said: "We reviewed the best way to care for our donors and we need venues where the donor screening booths, donation beds and refreshment facilities all need to be in the same room.

"The venue at Upton Bishop will allow us to collect blood more efficiently, meaning we can accommodate more donors in a larger space and only collect the blood we need."