Milton Keynes patients benefitting from new blood transfusion service that allows more patients to be treated locally

A regular red cell exchange service is now offered at Milton Keynes Hospital, thanks to a collaboration between NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (MKUH).

The programme allows more patients to be treated locally - a lifeline for those living with sickle cell disease. These patients may regularly need red cell exchanges,

which is where their abnormal red blood cells are removed and replaced with healthy donor blood.

Before this, patients had to regularly travel all the way to Oxford for the treatment. A big commitment time and money wise, when they could require treatment every four to eight weeks for the rest of their lives.

While inpatients with an acute sickle cell crisis (sudden, extremely painful episodes that can be life-threatening) have been receiving treatment locally, patients receiving regular red blood cell exchange transfusions to prevent complications were required to travel to Oxford, more than 40 miles away.

Abdulsamad Abdullah, aged 25, lives in Milton Keynes. He’s an interior architecture graduate, a regular at the gym, and he also lives with sickle cell disease. He was one of the first patients to be treated, as a part of the collaboration.

He is having a red cell exchange every four weeks at MKUH, to manage sickle cell disease and keep symptoms under control. This treatment is keeping him from having crises that could bring him in as an inpatient.

Abdulsamad has had the condition since birth and has required red cell exchange blood transfusions as treatment since the age of 17. Until May 2026, Abdulsamad travelled to Oxford every four weeks for his treatment.

The visits added up to more than 50 hours of travel a year for him and his mum, on top of the two‑hours spent having each procedure. Now, his red cell exchange blood transfusion is delivered at MKUH.

Abdulsamad said: “Having treatment so close to home has made a massive difference to me and mum. We don’t have to spend so long travelling and mum doesn’t have to give up as much of her time to accompany me to appointments.

“Sickle cell means I have an increased risk of infection and it can also cause really severe pain for days at a time. There have been periods when it got so bad that I struggle to remember anything - I just know that I’ve been seriously poorly.

“The treatment improves my immunity and reduces my pain, which I’m grateful for but seeing my mum get some time back also makes me very happy.”

Sickle cell disease is the country’s fastest growing genetic blood disorder and is more common in people of Black heritage. The serious, lifelong, condition can cause organ failure, strokes, loss of vision and can be fatal.

Patients living with sickle cell disease produce unusually shaped red blood cells that do not live as long as healthy blood cells and can block blood vessels. It is estimated that there are around 17,000 people with sickle cell in the UK.

Teresa Baines, Head of Therapeutic Apheresis Services at NHS Blood and Transplant, says: “Red cell exchanges are crucial in the care of a lot of patients with sickle cell disease and yet they haven’t been easily and locally available for many people. So, we are thrilled to be able to collaborate with Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and bring this treatment closer to home for many who have had to travel a long way for it up until now.

“This care and treatment wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of blood donors. I would encourage anybody who is eligible to donate and help other people to come forward, you will help provide life-saving treatments like this one and so many others.”

A single patient receiving regular red cell exchanges can require blood from up to 100 donors each year. Ten NHSBT’s TAS units across the country carry out an average of around 2,400 red cell exchanges every year. The new Buckinghamshire programme is now running, launching in late April.

For more information on blood donation, visit blood.co.uk.