What action it is taking to prevent patients contracting infections and diseases from contaminated blood during NHS treatment.

The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) takes a wide range of steps to minimise the risk of transmission of infection between donors and patients, including complex and extensive donor deferral criteria and microbiological screening for a variety of infectious agents.

The UK Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs and the UK Blood Services' Standing Advisory Committee on Transfusion Transmitted Infections monitor new and emergent infectious threats to the UK Blood Supply through a range of mechanisms including reports from health protection agencies, the Emerging Infectious Diseases Monitor group of the European Blood Alliance and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. They commission risk assessments and recommend intervention where necessary.
The pattern of infectious disease in the general population (and therefore amongst blood donors) changes both on a national and a global level and new or amended deferral and screening measures are taken as required. For example, SNBTS introduced deferral of donors who have visited countries affected by Zika virus from 5 February 2016.
Haemophilia is now commonly treated with 'recombinant factors' that are manufactured in a laboratory and do not come from donated plasma. Plasma products are screened in the same way as whole blood and are subject to a variety of processes to kill or remove any pathogens that may be present.