Positive progress on blood donation following Acupuncture.
BASRaT is pleased to share an important change to UK blood-donation guidance following acupuncture, addressing an issue that has been raised by our registrants regularly over a number of years.
On 11 August 2026, the Joint Professional Advisory Committee to the UK Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services (JPAC) published new guidance expanding the circumstances in which an acupuncture practitioner can be considered a “qualified practitioner” for blood-donor selection purposes.
Until now, patients receiving acupuncture outside the NHS have generally avoided the four-month acupuncture-related deferral only where their practitioner met JPAC’s definition of a Qualified Health Care Professional. This has principally relied on registration with a statutory healthcare regulator and has therefore excluded BASRaT-registered Sport Rehabilitators, despite their professional registration and the accreditation of the BASRaT register by the Professional Standards Authority.
BASRaT has raised this issue with JPAC and NHS Blood and Transplant over a number of years, highlighting the disproportionate impact on patients receiving appropriately delivered acupuncture from trained, insured and professionally registered Sport Rehabilitators.
What has changed?
Following consultation with the Department of Health and Social Care and the devolved administrations, JPAC has introduced a new route within its donor-selection guidance.
The revised criteria allow a donor to be accepted following acupuncture where treatment was provided by a practitioner acting in accordance with the licensing or registration legislation applying in their UK nation, provided sterile, single-use needles were used and the patient’s underlying condition does not itself prevent donation.
This means that, once the change has been implemented by the relevant national blood service, an appropriately trained BASRaT registrant who is fully compliant with the acupuncture licensing or registration requirements applying to their practice can fall within the expanded criteria.
This is a significant and welcome practical improvement for Sport Rehabilitators and their patients.
Different requirements across the UK
The legal requirements for acupuncture differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Depending on where a registrant practises, these may include practitioner or business registration, premises licensing or approval and compliance with local-authority conditions.
BASRaT has therefore produced detailed guidance for registrants, setting out:
the background to the JPAC changes;
what the revised criteria mean in practice;
the licensing and registration requirements in each UK nation;
the actions members should take now; and
important limitations, including the position regarding home visits and national implementation.
The full BASRaT guidance can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.
Implementation by the blood services
There is one important qualification.
Although JPAC published Change Notification 17-2026 with an effective date of 11 August 2026, the notification states that implementation is “to be determined by each Service”.
The four UK blood services may therefore implement the revised criteria at different times.
Until implementation has been confirmed by the relevant blood service, patients should continue to follow that service’s existing blood-donation eligibility advice.
BASRaT will monitor implementation and update registrants as the position develops.
Continued work on recognition of Accredited Registers
The revised JPAC approach is based on compliance with statutory acupuncture licensing and registration requirements, alongside wider considerations of practitioner training, governance and patient safety.
BASRaT continues to engage with relevant national bodies and stakeholders, including NHS Blood and Transplant and the Professional Standards Authority, to support clarity and consistency in how professionally regulated and accredited practitioners are recognised within healthcare policy and guidance.
We have also asked NHS Blood and Transplant to keep BASRaT informed as implementation progresses.
This does not detract from the importance of the current change, which should remove an unnecessary barrier for many patients receiving acupuncture from appropriately licensed BASRaT registrants.
BASRaT welcomes the progress and thanks JPAC for its constructive engagement with us on an issue that has affected our registrants and their patients for many years.
Read the JPAC publication:
https://jpacprod.blob.core.windows.net/media/documents/17-2026_Eligibility_of_blood_donors_undergoing_acupuncture.pdf
Download the BASRaT guidance
Blood Donation Following Acupuncture: Guidance for BASRaT Registrants - PDF Download