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Dr Brian McClelland told the Inquiry in his oral evidence that he was fairly sure the media was not used in June 1983 to address a wider audience of donors.

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Dr Brian McClelland told the Inquiry in his oral evidence that he had made clear to the other Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service directors that his leaflet was "public property".

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In the South East of Scotland the AIDS leaflets were made available at donor sessions.

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Dr Brian McClelland told the Inquiry in his oral evidence that he did not know whether other regions in Scotland made similar interim measures to include reference to AIDS in the call-up letters and leaflets.

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Dr Brian McClelland accepted in his evidence to the Inquiry that asking donors to sign a specific declaration that they had read the AIDS leaflet could have been part of the process from the outset in June 1983.

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Until Dr Huw Lloyd joined the Northern Centre, there had been only one full-time consultant at the centre.

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The Northern RTC had no role in allocating product, they acted as an intermediary in transferring product between BPL and the end user.

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There were periods of difficulty for the Northern RTC in terms of donor numbers as a result of shipyards and steelworks closing down in the North East and the loss of donors who had donated at workplace sessions.

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Due to the pro rata system operated by BPL, even when the Northern RTC sent the same amount of plasma as the previous year, they could receive 50% less product back because other RTCs had increased their production and Northern RTC had thus supplied a smaller proportion of the total plasma that year.

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The Northern area was one of the biggest users of whole blood in the country.

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The Northern Centre was producing the third highest amount of plasma in England and Wales, behind North London and Yorkshire.

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Dr Lloyd identified three barriers to Northern RTC achieving plasma targets: limited and outdated facilities, the belief that hospitals needed whole blood rather than red cells, and the RHA's approach to funding plasma collection.

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According to Dr Huw Lloyd's evidence to the Inquiry, at the Northern Regional Transfusion Centre, an "illness sheet" was used at donor sessions to record any recent illnesses suffered by the donor, which would later be used to identify unsuitable donations.

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In the transcript of Dr Lloyd's oral evidence he stated that the Newcastle RTC had a small plasmapheresis unit, but mostly plasma was recovered from whole blood donations.

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During oral evidence given by Dr Brian McClelland it became clear that donations could have been increased without much difficulty if required.

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Dr Brian McClelland stated South East Scotland initially had three plasmapheresis beds in the early 1980s for the collection of plasma from donors who had high levels of antibody either to tetanus toxin or to the rhesus antigen to make specific immunoglobulin products, but then started a small automatic plasmapheresis programme. He would have been "keen" to expand it but there was no enthusiasm at SNBTS or the Scottish Home and Health Department to pursue it.

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Dr Morris McClelland noted that he did not recall being involved in any discussions in regards to workplace sessions and employees feeling pressured to donate blood.

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Dr Brian McClelland initiated work on an AIDS donor leaflet without SHHD involvement.

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Dr Gamal Gabra stated in oral evidence that the facilities at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Blood Transfusion Centre were inadequate and that all the staff were aware of it.

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According to Dr Gamal Gabra's evidence to the Inquiry, the Glasgow Regional Transfusion Centre conducted oral donor interviews instead of a written health questionnaire, as was used in other centres. At certain locations, privacy screens were used.

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