Giving blood. Why is it so hard to find an appointment?

[TheVortex]

Reading this today
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-46220676

I don't agree that anyone should be paid to give blood personally. However it seems really hard to actually do it!

When there are blood shortages, I want to give blood, but around here, finding an appointment is really difficult. Walk in slots don't seem to exist in most places anymore

I'm in the south. Wondering if there are areas where fewer people donate ? Or is it that the donation services can't keep up?

YYY

I've been trying to give blood for the first time, for months. One I had to cancel as I was ill, I rebooked for several months after (the earliest I could get) and had to cancel that as I'd just started a new job and couldn't get the time off work. I've rebooked, but again it's months.

They don't need big fancy expensive appeals, just time to see those who want to donate!

It's a nightmare. They should spend less money on marketing texts and emails asking us to donate, and more on actually making it possible for us to donate. I find it really frustrating and that's being self employed - I imagine it's nigh on impossible for full time workers to get in.

I have to have three monthly b12 injections. Because if this I have been trying to check if I can actually give blood.

I have given up trying. I have emailed asked on Facebook for months. All anyone says to me if I don’t know. Someone will get back to u. They never do. So I have given up

I used to give blood but haven’t for a long while now. Our closest hospital is 25 miles away and is only open twice a week on a Monday it shuts at 5 then reopens again at 6 but I leave work at 5 and need to be at after school club by 6 so can’t hang around then it’s open on a Thursday afternoon for two hours again I’m at work.
They do bring it around every few months and it’s always on a Thursday when I have a weekly prior commitment. I used to be able to pop in on my way but they brought in an appointment system that doesn’t open until the posters go up in the local shops about a week before so I don’t always see it right away and I’ve never managed to get an appointment in the short time I have between it opening and needing to be somewhere else. It wasn’t far easier when they ran a drop in system I could be there for the doors opening and get to my next place to be which isn’t something easily cancelled either so I can’t just cancel and go give blood.

Thanks to this thread, though, I've just looked up the website, and there IS a donation session scheduled for our town! I've managed to book an appointment - for February! :) Better that than never!

@Dontgiveamonkeys1350

I checked, since I had their website open:

"B12 Vitamin Injections : Vitamin B12 Injections

You may donate provided you are not under investiation for this at present, you have completed your initial set of injections to treat your condition (usually 6 injections given every 2-4 days after initial diagnosis) and you are no longer anaemic, you only require Vitamin B12 injections every 3 months or less often than that (e.g. every 4 months is acceptable) to keep your condition under control to prevent recurrence.

If you require the injections more than every 3 months (e.g. every 8 or 10 weeks), please call to check with our helpline on 0300 123 23 23, Monday to Friday, 9am to 7pm as we may need to transfer you to the Referral Team who can deal with more complex issues.

If you are still under investigation, please wait until these have been completed and call us with any results/diagnosis."

They should spend less money on marketing texts and emails asking us to donate, and more on actually making it possible for us to donate.

To be fair, I like the texts telling you where your blood went. But I lost those, along with the ability to manage things online when I took up their suggestion of double-donating.

One thing I've found possible is to book the next appointment as you leave the current one, if that's of use to anyone ?

That's great gone wishing.

I was going today after trying to book since May - which is why the article caught my eye and I started the thread.

After text reminders for the last 5 days I've just had text to say my appointment is cancelled with an hours notice.

Sigh.

After text reminders for the last 5 days I've just had text to say my appointment is cancelled with an hours notice.

Ah, that sucks. This happened to me the previous time I made an appointment (although I think a few days before, not hours), so I'm not totally optimistic about Feb appt actually going ahead. But if it does, I'll try! I think according to their A-Z all my medications should be fine...

I've managed to re book for Feb too. Fingers crossed.

It would be good to know why they cancelled the appointment. I am however grateful I saw the message and I'd not left home already.

i expect the staff find it really annoying too.
i remember i did try to donate without any appointment and they werent scared of showing their disapproval!

frustrating all round.

I find it really hard as well. The slots that are outside of working hours seem to be impossible to get!

i knew someone who was Allowed time off work to donate blood?
could that be the case?

I was having a read through the Blood and Transplant "Blood 2020 strategy" www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/who-we-are/performance-and-strategy/ and it has some detail about sessions and appointment availability. "Evaluate the move towards an appointment only service. Donations by appointment have been growing over the
last five years; from 53% to more than 83% in 2014. Appointment availability is the main area of donor complaint and managing better the mix of appointment and walk-ins will improve our service to donors."

When it comes down to it, they've got to try to be as efficient and cost-effective as possible. The Blood service is run by the NHS but is separate - it's all public money but they have to charge the NHS for the blood that's supplied. So they need to try to make collection of blood as quick and efficient as they can. The old days of doing little afternoon sessions in every small village is not the way to go - the staff have to take all the beds and equipment there, set up, run the session then close down. It's more efficient to operate from purpose-built central donation centres or from a few, larger sessions. Having a drop-in session where you may get plenty of donors or you may be twiddling your thumbs - not efficient. Having appointments only, and overbooking those slightly anticipating some people won't turn up - that's going to work out best from a purely cost focused angle.

Don't get me wrong I think it's all a pain too. My iron levels were too low last time I tried to give (I'm up to 36 donations or something I think but prone to anaemia) so now I've dropped out of the regular schedule. When I could book a new appointment, back at the beginning of October, late November was the next available appointment that wasn't during my 9-5 Mon-Fri work pattern. Well actually it's 4:45pm but I'm just going to finish early that day - otherwise I'd have had to wait till January!

It says this in their strategy too:

"This drive for greater efficiency and more targeted blood collection so we only collect the blood the NHS needs, when it is needed, will mean changes for our donors. They are likely to experience fewer and larger blood donor sessions in fixed sites in major towns and cities, and fewer mobile sessions in more remote locations. Our donors are hugely important to us and we must explain the rationale and impact of changes with sensitivity and care."

Maybe they should try a bit harder with the communication...

Donations by appointment have been growing over the last five years; from 53% to more than 83% in 2014.

That's rather dishonest. It's trying to make it look like it's public demand that's driving appointments, rather than the fact they simply turn away walk-ins. I notice they neglect (they don't even capture it - which is the safest way of keeping inconvenient data out of the way) to mention how many people did turn up for a walk-in, and were turned away.

I know they don't capture it, having noted how they turned DS away.

The service has been truly taken over by the management droids.

I've been giving regularly since 4 days after my 18th birthday and my most recent donation was my 50th. About a year ago I actually complained to the blood service as despite having an appointment (which I had to time really carefully to fit in with school pickups, commuting home from work and evening commitments), when I turned up I was told there was a waiting time of over an hour past my appointment time. I got the regional manager calling me back who apologised and trotted out all the excuses about cutbacks. I really really understand that they have suffered because of cutbacks, and all the nurses I speak to at each session (the same ones each time) say how stretched they are to try and complete their targets, but from a long-term donor's perspective, I'm becoming more and more disinclined to donate, which is stupid as I know how much they need my donations (I have a type of blood that is quite rare and is also suitable for baby transfusions). I have been a huge advocate for donating for more than 20 years but I used to be able to tell friends to just turn up to a session. No chance of that happening any more, and I think they are going to be struggling hugely in 15 years' time when people like my father (who has given more than 120 times) are not well enough to donate any more.

Presumably the growing shortage of specialist nurses is affecting the NBTS at least as equally as the rest of the NHS ? Unless, for some reason, there's a mismatch and more specialists are leaving than any other nurses ?

One thing I've found possible is to book the next appointment as you leave the current one, if that's of use to anyone ?

They've stopped doing that in our area, you get told to book your own online now.

Presumably the growing shortage of specialist nurses is affecting the NBTS at least as equally as the rest of the NHS ?

I don't think they use many nurses. In our area, they mostly seem to be HCA trained to put the needle in, rather than actual nurses. We seem to have one, possibly 2 nurses in charges, and no doctors anymore like previously.

I can see that, from a management perspective, it kind of makes sense to concentrate resources in bigger, more widely spread locations.
However. Donors are individuals, each with their own limitations on available time to fit in with responsibilities. We don't mind going the extra mile/five miles if it's possible. But often it isn't. And we can't see it making sense locally.
The session I referred to earlier was moved to a bigger hall in between 2 towns; a tiny village with one pub and a defunct phone box. Now the hall itself is technically bigger than the one I used to go to, but -BUT- there are no more actual donation stations or staff. So fewer people from both places can now donate, which might be why they've removed the early evening appointments so that daytime workers can't get there.

I gave 12 times in my late teens/early 20s. They used to come regularly somewhere near me and when I went to uni they actually came there, easy and covienient. I had some health issues and found it was just so much more difficult to donate after I moved. I finally got round to going (13 years between my donations) a few months ago and went again last week. However I can only do it because I’m part time and I have to request a day off to get to the appointment! Seems ridiculous.

I agree if they really want donations they need to provide more evening/weekend slots, not need to book so far in advance and more permanent walk in centres.

We have a pop up one in our local Community hall and last time I wasn't able to pre book as I had various appointments and set errands to do all day and no idea when I would be free to go donate. I mentioned it to the nurses as I was at the Hall for a different reason later that night when they were packing up and they said they will always try to fit a walk-in in. She told me that if I couldn't make an appointments to just come on by when I could.
I may have missed it in your post but have you tried just popping in?

I think a lot of them don't encourage walk ins anymore. I may be wrong though.

I was just on phone to them to query and check my cancelled appt from today.
Turns out to be an admin issue because I've got the blood they very much need.

Also seems there is appointment prioritisation in place for regular and donors with types in demand.

I'm in the NW and you can no longer book your next donation at a donor session. That said, I have just managed to book an appointment for a Sunday at the end of January. Like a pp though, I find it hard to commit too far in advance because of other things. Last time I tried to donate I was literally the first in to the session (with an appointment) but my count was 124 and they need it to be 125 to take the donation. Frustrating!