Amber alert as Scotland faces blood donation shortages

An amber alert has come into force for the first time as stocks of blood in Scotland have dropped to unprecedented low levels due to the shortage of donors.

The warning has been sent to hospitals across the country by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS), urging medical staff to only use Type O blood when essential.

Type O blood is particularly important for transfusions as O-negative acts as a universal donor and O-positive is the most common blood type in the UK, with about 35% of the population having it.

Stocks have consistently been below target levels for several weeks and Group O blood has fallen to below two days of reserves on several occasions recently.