NHS: Review inconsistent blood donation policy

>> How does current policy discriminate against women in relationships with bisexual men?

The current guidelines state the following:
You must not give blood or platelets for at least 12 months after sex (even if you used a condom or other protective) with...
--If you are a man who, in the last 12 months has had oral or anal sex with another man (even if you used a condom or other protective).
--(If you are a woman) a man who has ever had oral or anal sex with another man, even if they used a condom or other protective.

This means that if a bisexual man has sexual encounters with another man and then enters into a relationship with a woman, within 12 months he can then give blood again.
If a woman enters into a sexually active relationship with a bisexual man [A], she can not give blood for the duration of the relationship and for the 12 months after, regardless of the length of time between the male partners last same sex encounter. This will soon be changing to 3 months but still prevents women from donating for the duration of the relationship.

This causes situations where a male, who has engaged in "risky behaviour"[B], may be able to give blood long before the woman, who has not, can. This is regardless of whether safe methods are used and whether the woman has undergone screenings for STIs/HIV and becomes a form of discrimination based on gender.

>> What needs to change?
It is critical that the blood donation process is made as safe and incident free as possible. While many safeguards are controversial, this petition sets out to remove the unnecessary bias directly affecting women in long term relationships with bisexual men.

The demand of this petition is simple:
That if men are allowed to give blood 12 months after their last sexual encounter with a man, that the same time frame is provided to the subsequent female partners of the man in question.

For this to happen, I would ask that:
- Current guidelines are reviewed for their consistency towards women
- That clear, fair guidelines are communicated to all front line staff to prevent otherwise eligible donors from being turned away

>> Why is blood donation important?
The NHS requires 6000 volunteers to give blood every day. [1] Blood is used in hospitals to treat conditions such as anaemia and other blood conditions and it is also used during life saving surgery and to treat blood loss after birth [2]. Occasionally blood is also used by scientists to better understand certain conditions.

>> My story
Despite sympathies from the Nurse, who could fully see my point, I was turned away from the Birmingham City Centre donation clinic on these grounds on the 23 August 2018. I was informed that if my partner wanted to give blood and undergo screening that I would be able to at the same time. This would be fine if every one was able to/desired to give blood and everyone could access the same clinics as their partner but that simply isn't the case for everyone.

It is also an additional step that I have to go through that my partner does not for no reason other than my gender.

>>Definitions and references
[A] I have used the term bisexual male for simplicity but it should be noted that this should refer to the broad spectrum of sexualities and genders for which the same blood donation restrictions apply
[B] The term "risky behaviour" is based on NHS terminology and in no way reflects my views on the issues around gay men and blood donation

[1] Source: https://www.blood.co.uk/why-give-blood/the-need-for-blood/
[2] Source: https://www.blood.co.uk/why-give-blood/how-blood-is-used/