Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 11 Feb 2003

Vol. 561 No. 1

Written Answers. - Irish Blood Transfusion Service.

Damien English

Question:

151 Mr. English asked the Minister for Health and Children the further checks and safeguards which have been put in place since the IBTS inadvertently informed hepatitis C sufferers that they were clear to donate blood; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3331/03]

Jack Wall

Question:

169 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the recent mailshot sent out by the Irish Blood Transfusion Service which led to a number of people infected with hepatitis C being invited to donate blood; if he has asked the service for an explanation as to the way in which this occurred; if he has asked for and received an assurance that such an incident will not happen again; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3432/03]

Olivia Mitchell

Question:

351 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Health and Children the further checks and safeguards which have been put in place since the Irish Blood Transfusion Service inadvertently informed hepatitis C sufferers they were clear to donate blood. [3352/03]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin):

I propose to take Questions Nos. 151, 169 and 351 together.

On 3 January 2002 the IBTS introduced an additional test for hepatitis B, called hepatitis B core antibody test, which detects hepatitis B at very low levels. This additional test allowed the IBTS to accept donations from donors who had jaundice before their 13th birthday and brought Ireland into line with practice throughout Europe and the USA. Up to this point any donor who presented with a history of jaundice had been deferred from donating indefinitely. After the introduction of this additional test the IBTS decided to write to all those donors on its donor database who had been deferred because of a history of jaundice in childhood. This necessitated a mailshot to 8,000 donors who had been deferred for jaundice.

Each donor was sent an explanatory letter outlining the rationale behind the introduction of the test and attached to the letter was a questionnaire seeking additional information concerning the clinical details of his-her jaundice and his-her current state of health so that this could be reviewed to decide if that particular donor was now eligible to donate. It should be stressed that the letter was in no way an invitation to donate, rather it was informing donors of the change to IBTS guidelines and of the possibility that they could be re-instated onto the IBTS active donor panel.

The letter stated, inter alia:

We have reviewed our records and note that you informed us that you had jaundice in the past. We would be most grateful if you would complete the enclosed questionnaire so that we can advise you if you are eligible to donate. Please do not come to your local blood clinic with this questionnaire as you will not be able to donate until we have reviewed your questionnaire and amended your donor record if appropriate. We will write to you and let you know if you are eligible to donate.

As can be seen clearly from this excerpt the letter to the donors was eliciting further information about the clinical details of their jaundice and their current state of health and it was not an invitation to donate, nor could the donor donate on presentation of the letter or questionnaire at their local clinic. Therefore, as the letter was requesting further medical information there was no danger to the blood supply as the recipients of the letter could not have donated without further medical assessment.

Unfortunately, two donors who were hepatitis C positive received these letters. This had not been intended – these two donors had been included in the file of donors with a history of jaundice in addition to being on file as hepatitis C positive. The IBTS had not picked up this discrepancy when checking their file of 8,000 donors with a history of jaundice. The IBTS apologised for this error and any hurt this may have caused. When this error came to light the IBTS amended its coding system so that in future donors who were hepatitis C positive would be deferred with a code that is used exclusively for this purpose.

In 2002 there was an 8.6% increase in donations over 2001. This resulted in an uninterrupted supply to hospitals for elective surgery, treatment of patients with cancer and trauma etc. This change to the guidelines and other initiatives has enabled the IBTS to recruit donors who would previously have been ineligible to donate and has facilitated the IBTS in responding to the emerging threat of variant CJD.

The IBTS has in place a number of checks to ensure that people with hepatitis C do not donate blood. This includes a detailed questionnaire which must be filled in by potential donors and a PCR test, which is the most sensitive test available for detecting hepatitis C, which is carried out on all blood samples donated. In addition, the IBTS has widely distributed an information leaflet, particularly aimed at people with hepatitis C and their families entitled Eligibility to Donate Blood.