Blood Donor Survey on Donor Selection Guidelines

What is the survey about?

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) in collaboration with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and blood services in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England will carry out a voluntary, confidential online survey. The aims of the study are to understand what blood donors think about the questions they are asked when they come to donate, and how the questions are working to keep the blood supply safe. A random sample of blood donors who have donated or given samples in the past 4 to 8 weeks will be invited to take part in the survey.

Since November 2022 in Ireland, the pre-donation questions have been changed and new questions, based on an individual’s own sexual experience, have been added. This was done on the advice of the Social Behaviours’ Review Group (SBRG); and is called ‘Individual Donor Risk assessment (IDRA)’. This is very similar to the FAIR (For the Assessment of Individualised Risk) system in the UK. Answering these questions before giving blood makes a big difference to the safety of the blood supply.

As part of this change, the IBTS committed to the Department of Health (DoH) to conduct a survey to help us understand how the questions are working to keep the blood supply safe.

What is asked in the survey?

The survey asks questions about donors’ experiences, including:

• Health and lifestyle
• Sexual behaviours
• Why they choose to donate
• Views on the change to more individualised donor selection policy

How the survey works

Blood donors across Ireland will be invited to take part in the survey between January and March 2025, using the link emailed to them by the IBTS. This link will take them to the survey hosted by the UKHSA. The IBTS will not give the UKHSA any personal identifiable details about the donors and they will not be asked for them in the survey. The responses to the survey are confidential and cannot be linked to the donors’ records.
The survey will not retain any computer IP addresses (the code that identifies a particular computer on the internet). The internet browser will not retain the survey answers. We ask that donors complete the survey in one go, as responses can’t be saved and returned to later.

Participation

By taking the survey donors understand that their survey responses will be stored by the UK Health Security Agency for up to 1 year for analysis by the survey team. The survey team will not share your responses with the IBTS.
Your participation is entirely voluntary, and you may withdraw at any time without providing a reason. However, once submitted, your survey responses cannot be removed as the survey team will not be able to identify your individual answers. The survey takes about 10 minutes and needs to be answered in one go.

Will my personal data be safe?

Please be reassured that your personal details will not be shared with the UKHSA. The survey is confidential with no link to your donor record. No information that could identify an individual will be collected. Your IP address will not be stored in the survey.

The IBTS and the UKHSA have implemented a Data Sharing Agreement; ensuring personal data is handled in compliance with the relevant data protection laws in Ireland and the U.K. The agreement outlines the responsibilities of each party to safeguard personal data, ensuring its security and protection against unauthorised access or use.

What will be done with the survey results?

The survey aims to provide important information to understand the impact of moving to a more individualised donor selection policy. The survey results will be used to assess if donors are able to fully disclose personal information on the health and lifestyle questionnaire that they answer before donating, and to measure how the new questions contribute to the blood service being both inclusive and safe.

Will the results be published?

The results of the survey will be published as group data in summary reports (e.g. IBTS’ data) – meaning individual answers will not be shown. Only information about the whole survey group or subgroups will be published. Data will be shared with the University of Nottingham for some of the analyses. Responses will be stored on secure computer systems and will only be seen by authorised staff.

These summary reports will be shared with the IBTS, UK Blood Services and key stakeholders in the NHS and UK Government. In turn, the IBTS may share with the DoH. The final results will be published in a peer reviewed journal, and some data will be made available on the IBTS and UKHSA webpages.