There is already a national cord blood programme in place. The NHS cord blood bank, supported by NHS Blood and Transplant and funded by the Department of Health, collects cord blood from four centres. All the cord blood units stored in the NHS cord blood bank are available to NHS patients across the country.
Is the Minister aware that the Anthony Nolan Trust estimates that tens of thousands of pints of cord blood, which could be used for transplantation and research purposes, are discarded every year in the UK? Will the Minister support the charity’s proposed national cord blood bank to ensure that units donated altruistically by mothers are used to drive forward medical research rather than be discarded, thereby totally wasting this valuable resource?
I had a meeting with representatives of the Anthony Nolan Trust recently and I should say to the hon. Lady that the NHS has access through the international bone marrow registry and others to about 10 million samples, and that 72 per cent. of the matches in cord blood in the UK are provided internationally. There are two separate issues here: the first is treatment now and the second is research. The Anthony Nolan Trust is looking particularly into the issue of treatment now. The NHS cord blood bank is currently undertaking a review, which will report to me later this year about how to ensure a greater percentage of matches. We have already put in extra money, particularly for collection in respect of black, minority and ethnic communities. Over and above that, the Anthony Nolan Trust is looking into the development of its services, and I have said that it is crucial that developments at both the NHS blood bank and the Anthony Nolan Trust take place in partnership to ensure that we maximise the benefits for UK patients. That is what we intend to do.