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Blood donation without a doctor on site in the future? Doctors’ President Reinhardt warns Minister Lauterbach
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Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wants to ensure by decree that blood donation appointments can be offered in the future even if a doctor is only connected via video. The President of the German Medical Association explains why he is against this.
Doctors’ President Klaus Reinhardt has warned Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) against the plan to no longer require the physical presence of doctors at blood donations, but to allow video access instead. Reinhardt told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND) that no investigation had been carried out to date “whether the lack of medical presence leads to people who are willing to donate blood staying away.”
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In addition, Lauterbach’s draft regulation stipulates that doctors remain responsible for donation safety and the collection of blood despite their physical absence, just as they would be at a regular blood donation appointment with a doctor present. “From a professional and liability perspective, the German Medical Association must therefore advise doctors against participating in telemedically supervised donation appointments without a doctor present,” announced the medical association president.
Transfusion law has been reformed
Due to an amendment to the Transfusion Act, the use of telemedicine for blood and plasma donations has been generally permitted since 2023 in order to be able to offer more blood donation appointments. The “Hemotherapy Guideline”, which is decisive for the practical implementation of a blood donation and which the German Medical Association is developing together with the Paul Ehrlich Institute, initially only provides for a step-by-step approach together with an evaluation.
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Lauterbach’s draft for a “Regulation on the use of telemedical procedures for blood and plasma donations”, on the other hand, goes further and, in deviation from the directive, already provides concrete regulations to dispense with the physical presence of a doctor.
The aim is to “continue to ensure that donation appointments and the supply of blood and plasma in Germany continue,” says the draft regulation. The rules laid down there also include the liability issue criticized by Reinhardt. It also stipulates, for example, that the non-medical staff present must be able to provide first aid in the event of a medical emergency.
