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In the early 1980s, Northern Ireland began sending plasma to Scotland for fractionation at the Protein Fractionation Centre.

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Dr Tony Napier commented on the disadvantages of the system of regional autonomy for blood transfusion centres, stating that if the focus was on obtaining self-sufficiency in England and Wales, then accountability and funding discussions should have taken place centrally.

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Dr Harold Gunson wrote a report which summarised the core functions performed by all regional transfusion centres (RTCs) and some of the functions performed to a greater or lesser degree by RTCs.

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Dr Entwistle stated that the Cambridge RTC had arrangements for a night porter who would telephone the on-call doctor, if services were required out of hours, who could authorise for blood to be issued to hospital blood banks.

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Dr Entwistle in his evidence stated that the Oxford RTC unlike other RTCs sent its plasma to the Plasma Fractionation Laboratory (PFL) in Oxford, instead of the Blood Products Laboratory (BPL), and PFL sent the fractionated products directly to the Oxford Haemophilia Centre.

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Dr Entwistle said the fact he remained unaware at the time that there were shortages of blood donors in nearby areas underlined the need for rationalisation of the service.

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Dr Entwistle told the Inquiry that the Oxford RTC could have collected more donations in order to assist centres with shortages.

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Dr Entwistle stated that RTC directors did not have an input in the setting of targets for plasma production, and targets were set by BPL as it was responsible for finding sufficient raw material to provide the products needed. BPL divided the total required into proportions to be provided by individual RTCs.

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Initially the Oxford and Wessex RTCs were the only regions exempt from BPL's pro rata system, which meant that the amount of concentrate BPL returned to the RTC was proportionate to the amount of plasma the RTC supplied. However, from June 1981 onwards the pro rata system was applied to the Oxford RTC too.

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A report by the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) described one of the core functions of RTCs as providing a source of medical advice on transfusion and product-related problems.

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Dr Boulton gave evidence that the regional health authority funded a major development (around £2 million) in the mid 1990s to upgrade the blood products facilities at the Southampton centre.

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The North East Thames RTC completed a new extension to its Brentwood centre.

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Dr Angela Robinson and Dr Patricia Hewitt visited the Oxford RTC to audit the centre.

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Dr John Jenkins described resources at the Brentwood transfusion centre as being so stretched that they had no margin for holidays, sickness or failure of apparatus.

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Dr Napier said the Cardiff centre established a small locus for offering autologous transfusions but it had its constraints and was inflexible so the service did not continue for long because interest in it waned probably due to those constraints.

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The regional medical officer had medical and scientific oversight of RTCs.

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In South and Mid Wales, the regional transfusion directors reported to the Welsh Office until 1982, when line management was handed over to the South Glamorgan District Health Authority.

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The five RTCs in Scotland formed part of what became the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and were run by Professor John Cash who was the medical director from 1979 to 1988, when his role changed and he became the medical and scientific director of the SNBTS.

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In 1970 a new donor centre was commissioned for the RTC in Inverness, which was thought even before it was built to be inadequate.

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The case was put forward for expanding the Inverness RTC, as it could only cope with a maximum of seven donors at one time.

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