A sustainable, well supported workforce is essential to delivering safe and high quality blood transfusion care. The transfusion workforce includes a breadth of specialists including specialist haematology doctors, nurses, biomedical and clinical scientists and transfusion practitioners. However, there are growing challenges. Staffing levels are not nationally defined and recent surveys (2023 SHOT and UKTLC) highlight gaps in staffing, skill mix and resourcing.
The transfusion practitioner role is critical for linking laboratory and clinical teams and supporting patient safety, but currently lacks a national framework and consistent standards, leading to variation in practice across trusts. At the same time, shortages in haematology consultants and consultant scientists are increasing; there are fewer trainee numbers and the number of colleagues taking retirement is increasing. This is highlighted in the No-One’s Listening (2023) report, which notes that this could impact inequality in care. Strengthening this workforce pipeline is essential to provide expert clinical leadership and maintain high standards of care.
Patient safety is directly affected by workforce capacity and capability. The SHOT Report (Narayan, S. et al., 2025) shows a rise in preventable transfusion-related incidents, with over 80% linked to avoidable errors. These are often associated with gaps in training and competency, reinforcing the need for a well trained and supported workforce.
