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Blood group genotyping programme in Scotland

Published on 27 November 2024

The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) is pleased to announce its collaboration with NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and NHS England (NHSE) to offer patients with rare inherited red cell disorders in Scotland access to state of the art blood group testing, as part of the Blood Group genotyping programme. This is the first step towards providing better matched blood transfusions for those who need it most.

This programme will be open to patients in Scotland from 10 December 2024 to 30 September 2025.

What is blood group genotyping?

Blood group genotyping is genetic testing which will provide more detail about each patient’s blood groups. This test answers the question 'what blood groups do you have?'. There are over 300 known blood groups.

This programme will also provide some details about Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA) typing, which can help find suitable donors for patients eligible for bone marrow or stem cell transplants.

Who is eligible in Scotland?

Patients who receive regular blood transfusions or are likely to receive transfusions in the future with the following conditions:

  • Sickle Cell Disorder
  • Transfusion-dependent Thalassaemia
  • Transfusion-dependent Rare Inherited Red Cell Disorders – e.g. Diamond-Blackfan Anaemia Syndrome

How will blood group genotyping help?

Some blood groups are more common in certain ethnicities. If patients receive blood not closely matched to their own, they may develop antibodies. Antibodies may cause them to have severe reactions to future transfusions and may make it more difficult to find blood in future. In the future, as more patients and donors have blood group genotyping done, we will be better able to provide matched blood and reduce transfusion reactions.

How will the programme work in Scotland?

Eligible patients who have regular blood transfusions or are likely to have transfusions in the future will be identified by their hospital clinical teams and offered testing. If you are a patient, parent or guardian and you think you or your child may be eligible, please ask your hospital clinical team about testing.

If patients, parents or guardians consent to testing, this will be documented in patients’ notes, and blood samples will be taken at clinic and sent to SNBTS’ Patient Services lab in Glasgow.

  • Clinical teams will complete the NHSBT Form 4A, ensuring the 'consent' box on the form is ticked to avoid sample rejection, and send with the sample tubes to Glasgow.
  • Our team in Glasgow will process the samples and send them in batches to the NHSBT laboratory in Bristol for testing.
  • The results will be returned to your hospital team via SNBTS and your local laboratories. This may take several months.

Where can I find out more?

Email contact: nss.BGGenPrgTestEnquiries@nhs.scot