Unnecessary regulations prevent acupuncture patients from giving blood
Acupuncturists used to be able to give a certificate to patients to prove they have received acupuncture from a member of the British Acupuncture Council, to demonstrate hygienic treatment given. For over 10 years now, the Blood donation service has not let a person receiving acupuncture give blood. This is reducing the blood donations from thousands of healthy people. We do hope this will be resolved soon! The British Acupuncture Council have been fighting this battle for us for years – see More details below.
From Brtish Acupuncture Council Blog
9 June 2025|
As reported in BBC News today, the NHS has raised significant concern over an estimated 200,000 blood donor shortfall and has urgently called for more donors to come forward. The British Acupuncture Council has consistently lobbied for a change in blood donation regulations because they are unnecessarily applied to patients who are treated by our members, limiting blood donations as a consequence.
Current regulations
Current regulations stipulate that people who have had acupuncture must wait a minimum of four months before they are able to make a blood donation. This is known as the deferral period. This period does not apply if the practitioner is also a member of a statutory regulated body: such as a nurse or a doctor. However, it omits those who belong to bodies with equivalent high standards of safety and hygiene with regulation accredited by the Professional Standards Authority of Health and Social Care such as the British Acupuncture Council. Many people choose to receive acupuncture from British Acupuncture Council members as their training provides both training and a deep foundation in the tradition of Chinese medicine.
This discrepancy has previously been acknowledged by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood and Tissues and Organs (SaBTO). In 2017 SaBTO recommended a change. In the Donor Selection Criteria Report (2017) SaBTO stated (p111):
The working group
The working group decided that there was a very low risk for acupuncture carried out in the UK in registered and regulated premises by appropriately trained individuals, and recommended no deferral for UK-based acupuncture practitioners, three months if done outside UK for blood donation. The working group thought that the current list of qualified practitioners should be extended.
Subsequently, in regard to the definition of ‘appropriately trained individuals’, on page 180 of the report SaBTO stated:
Many acupuncturists, in the UK belong to a professional body such as the British Acupuncture Council but others do not so it is difficult to find a way to mandate professional standards to ensure that acupuncture is always carried out using single use needles.
Unfortunately, despite this recommendation and the clear need for more blood donors, no action has currently been taken.
The British Acupuncture Council believes that a simple solution would be to remove the deferral period for those who have had acupuncture from an acupuncturist on a Proffessional Standards Authority (PSA) Accredited Register – https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/practitioners/acupuncturist?&page=1&sort=relevance . The British Acupuncture Council is an accredited register of the PSA, which provides independent assurance of the high levels of professionalism of our members.
In My Practice
I have had a few patients ask me about this, so I thought I would keep people informed. For information about treatment, please do grt in touch at – https://www.southwellacupuncture.co.uk/contact/
Member of The British Acupuncture Council
Hannah Charles Lic Ac MBAcC qualified as an Acupuncturist in 1995 and runs Southwell Acupuncture Clinic.
Hannah worked as a Nurse in the NHS and private healthcare for 10 Years before Studying Acupuncture
All Acupuncture treatments are carried out in accordance with Codes of Safe Practice and of Professional Conduct of the British Acupuncture Council. The British Acupuncture Council sets the highest standards of professional practice for the acupuncture profession in the UK. For more information, see https://acupuncture.org.uk/
Specialising in Traditional Five Element Acupuncture treatments, acupuncturist Hannah Charles is a founder a member of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC).
The British Acupuncture Council is a member of the Accredited Registrar Scheme run by the government and backed Professional Standards Authority
To Find The British Acupuncture Council at the PSA, see link – https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/organisations-we-oversee/find-a-register/british-acupuncture-council
