Who can donate platelets?

By becoming a platelet donor you will join a community of active donors across England who save lives every day. 

You may be able to donate platelets if you have the right blood type, a high enough platelet count, and have given blood before.

Can you donate platelets?

We'd like to hear from you if you:

• have A negative, A positive or AB negative blood
  
  
• have given blood or platelets before
  
  
• are aged between 17 and 70 (if you are over 70 and have donated blood or platelets within the last 2 years, you are still eligible)
  
  
• have enough blood to donate safely
  
  
• are able to regularly spare up to 2 hours to donate at least 4 times a year
  
  
• can travel to a donor centre

Check how much blood you have

We will ask you your height and weight before your first platelet donation and your weight before every platelet donation. This is to make sure it is safe for you to donate platelets.

The machine we use to collect platelets uses this information to work out how much blood you have, and how many platelets you can safely donate.

You can use this tool to check if you have enough blood to donate platelets.

Please note that this tool is a guide only, and we will ask your height and weight again at your first appointment.

Who can't donate platelets?

There are some reasons why you can't donate platelets, even if you have given blood or platelets in the past. 

Blood type

We are looking for people with these blood types to switch to donating platelets:

• A negative
  
  
• AB negative
  
  
• A positive

Platelets from donors with these blood types are safe to give to almost everyone and are constantly needed by hospitals. 

Hospital demand may change in the future and we may need donors with other blood types to step forward.

If you have a different blood type you can still save and improve lives by giving blood or donating plasma.

You need to be, or have been, a blood donor before switching to platelet donation

What you should do next depends on whether you have donated before.

Once you make the switch to platelet donation, you cannot continue to give blood. If you want to return to giving blood at any point, you will need to stop donating platelets first.

Donating is so easy and pain free. In fact I enjoy the peace and quiet.

Natalie started giving platelets after a friend died from bowel cancer