NHS blood donation clinics in Kent not cancelled despite Brexit traffic fears
Sessions in Kent were thought to have been cancelled over an eight-week period amid concerns of traffic jams.
Tuesday 29 January 2019 20:03, UK
The government has denied that blood donation sessions in Kent will have to be cancelled around Brexit over fears of major traffic disruption - despite the NHS announcing that several clinics would have to be scrapped.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mike Stredder, director of blood donation for NHS blood and transport, said six donation sessions would be cancelled in Dover and Folkestone because of the potential return of Operation Stack.
He announced: "We have taken the decision to cancel donation sessions in Dover and Folkestone for a two week period before and for six weeks after Britain's exit from the EU."
Mr Stredder said Operation Stack - which closes part of the M20 close to Maidstone and Ashford to allow lorries to stop when Channel services are disrupted - may prevent donation teams from reaching venues.
But the Department of Health has now moved to deny that statement, with a source telling Sky News that a proposal to cancel sessions "was not cleared".
The source said: "We are stopping it right now. Blood donation sessions will continue as usual."
Dover MP Charlie Elphicke had questioned why appointments would need to be cancelled, pointing out that ports in both his constituency and in Calais had pledged to keep traffic flowing.
Jean-Marc Puissesseau, president of the Calais port, said there had been preparations for Brexit for one year, and said the ports will be ready to deal with it, deal or not.
The Calais-Dover crossing is expected to be a focal point in the days after Britain leaves the EU on 29 March, with fears centred around what will happen to lorries carrying supplies between the continent and the UK.
Congestion at the ports caused by customs checks being reintroduced on goods has been cited as among the likely negative effects of a no-deal withdrawal.
Earlier this month, a Brexit test was carried out in Kent, with 150 lorries driven to a disused airfield near Ramsgate to test its suitability as an HGV holding bay in the event of problems caused by a disorderly exit from the EU.
There have been fears that a no-deal Brexit could see Operation Stack return in a similar fashion to 2015, when French employees of MyFerryLink took industrial action.
By the end of the operation, run by a collaboration of Kent Police and the Port of Dover, 30 miles of lorries had to be cleared from along the motorway.
Operation Stack will be overtaken by Operation Brock later this year.