No blood, no op, say hospitals

A woman has alleged that several Beijing hospitals have refused to operate on her elderly mother until her family donates over a liter of blood.

Beijing health authorities responded Tuesday that although there is a rule that requests blood donations for surgery where a large amount of blood may be needed, it is not compulsory.

The woman, surnamed Yu, comes from Guangdong Province. Her mother is waiting for knee surgery, but Yu told the Global Times that the three hospitals she tried all asked for a preoperative blood donation. One of them asked for 1.4 liters of blood. Yu did not want to name any of the hospitals involved.

"Not all of my family lives in Beijing, which makes such a large donation difficult," she said.

"So far, we haven't got any blood yet; we'll have to ask friends in Beijing to see if anyone is willing to do us a favor," she said. Yu said she has donated blood before and has the certificate.

"Normally with this certificate, I won't have to donate blood, but it's not recognized in Beijing hospitals because I donated it in Guangdong," she said.

An anonymous employee from Beijing Chaoyang Hospital said that it does ask relatives or friends to donate blood at the Beijing Red Cross Blood Center if a patient's surgery requires a lot of blood.

"Without the donation, the surgery can't be done," he said.

"The blood type and amount donated don't have to match the patient's, but this allows them to use others' blood," he said, noting that patients needing emergency treatment or who do not need a large transfusion are excluded.

Ma Yanming, the media officer for Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, said the donation rule is not compulsory.

"Hospitals are not supposed to use that as an excuse for not providing patients with surgery," he said.

Ma noted that people who donated blood would be favored if they needed blood for treatment in the future.

"Because Yu didn't donate the blood in Beijing, she might be unlikely to benefit from any compensatory measures when she or her relatives has surgery here," he said, noting that the lack of a nationwide donation network between cities and regions is the reason.