23 March 2022: Presentation (Production in Scotland/Northern Ireland) - D

On pool sizes, the Inquiry has had limited access to all the information that might exist to inform its investigations on this topic.

From Rosemary Biggs, the Oxford F8 pool size figures for concentrate were quoted as:

1969 mean pool size was 160

1970 mean pool size was 192

1971 mean pool size was 192

It was considerably less for cryo.

In 1974, BPL stopped putting on product labels the number of donors that made up the pool, and replaced it with a general statement of "not more than 500".

From a memo in 1975 the plan was to grow pool sizes (and so for labelling purposes):

1975 - 830 current (then) donations in a pool

1976 - rising to 1,500 donations in a pool

1977 - rising to 2,000 donations in a pool

A 1976 label confirms this (ie 1,500 donations). A 1980 label mentioned (less than) 5,000 donations used in the batch. That one also had a new addition to the standard label, warning about not being free from the possibility of Hepatitis virus. From a 1983 label it was (less than) 7,500 donations. And from a 1985 label (8Y) it was (less than) 10,000 donations. The warning was further expanded also. From a 1987 label, there was no maximum number of donations mentioned, but mentions the heat treatment process. From a 1988 (8Y) label it was as the 1987 label. A 1986 document mentions 25,000 donations making up a batch. You get the picture. It was moving from a "cottage industry" to a major industrial production process.

There are caveats to the numbers due to changes to production processes that, for example, result in different yields. Also, the F8 data is reasonably traceable, whereas the F9 data is patchy.

The growth in pool size rises exponentially, particularly as the graph extends through the latter 1980s and into the 1990s. This may be due in part to the rising demand for factor products. Of course, there remains the question of whether the rising demand was a patient-led or a doctor-led (ie patient-fed) phenomenon.

Again, the issue of freezer capacity rears its head, particularly for the PFC in Scotland. It appears that the Scottish pool sizes remained relatively small (three-figues numbers) compared to the English numbers. Of course, if pools were combined, say after RIA testing, that would boost the final total. It would make sense to test smaller batches to catch problems, rather than to wait until they are all in the same big bucket. The Edinburgh Cohort case made reference to 4,000 donors having to be followed-up on, which suggests the three-figure pool size numbers was not the whole story.

Sitting back and thinking viscerally about the process, the idea of lots of pints or litres of blood being mixed together in a cauldron-type container, stirred together into a frothy red soup, to then be fractionated or distilled or spun out to extract the all-important blood glue is actually quite yucky to imagine at one level. And especially, if I picture an extract of that being pushed into my body, it is quite cringeworthy. And, and, the whole matter of filthy facilities with rats, mould, dirt, and who knows what else, is a horrorshow. Pool size is such a graphic element in this whole saga.