To think the staff from my local blood service

[BimboNo5]

Shouldn't be so a)unhelpful and b) downright moody and horrible when people are donating blood which helps saves lives of millions of people?
Starting at the begining, I arrived at the blood session the other evening, hadnt donated for over a year so had no idea you HAD to book and appointment. The very rude little Benny Hill lookalike man said why didnt you book an appointment? All these other people have? I explained that a while ago I tried to make an appointment online and had got no response from the blood service whatsoever and thought you could still drop in. He went on for ages about I should have booked even though i'd explained the situation. I explained i'd tried to book an appointment for a session a while back but had no response from them, he asked how long in advance i'd booked and I said it was about four weeks prior to the session and he said 'well thats NO good, you have to book far earlier than that' I tried to explain how I didnt have a job where I know that far in advance when I am off work and he said well you need to book anyway then cancel if you cant make it- err wtf i'd still not be able to donate then would I?
After escaping this little Hitler the next bad experience came from the utter unprofessionalism of the nurses. A man on the bed next to me felt ill half way through, the nurse got the manager who loudly told him in front of everyone he needed to stop donating as he'd donated 7 times and 3 of those he'd become unwell and it was a waste of everyones time. I then heard a few nurses huddling together laughing about it calling him a wuss etc etc.
I know this is an essay and ridiculous to stress about but surely they shouldn't act like they are doing you a huge favour by taking a pint of blood off you ffs?

I'd hope that it was a one-off poor experience as I have never had that. They have always been lovely at mine - but they run a drop in service in town and down appointment only elsewhere in the city.

you had such a bad experience. Giving blood is so, so important and people should be encouraged as much as possible to do it - including by making the actual experience as smooth and pleasant as possible. FWIW, I've never heard anything like this in many years of donating - (appointments more than 4 weeks in advance?? erm - I've NEVER done that.....) and the staff have alway bent over backwards to accommodate in any way they can.

Please don't let this put you off donating - if you can, please report this to the HQ, as they'll be keen to sort out problems like this.

Ours are the same - the mobile ones, anyway.

I am o rhesus neg, so I can donate to anyone. The last couple of times the mobile centre has been in my town, I've been phoned by the main office and asked to donate because they're short of my blood. The sessions run from 5-7.30, and when I've gone along at 6.30, I've been told to go away because the queue is too long, and they are only taking the people who are already in the queue.

It's put me off going again, TBH.

Oh God- don't get me started on their stupid appointments system or my head will explode!!! Fuckers.

There seem to be two issues here - that the blood donation service is really struggling with its admin and that there were some seriously unprofessional nurses at the service that Bimbo visited.

Bimbo - definitely worth letting the central blood donation services know about your experience.

I used to donate blood, can't any more as it made my ferritin levels low and gp told me to stop donating. But their appt system used to drive me insane. It was so hard to get an appt. Like the OP I have a job where I only get a few weeks notice of my days off. So by the time I knew I was off all the spots were booked up.

OP I am sorry to hear about all this. But my DD is alive because of people like you.

I hope your experiences get better and thank you for donating and for bringing it again to attention.

I must admit, when I use the blood van it's like that. They're downright rude and I've seen them so rude that people have just walked out. But I use it because it parks outside my work so I can book an appt months in advance.

On the occasions when I've been to a church hall or whatever it's been completely different. Luckily, most people there know how important it is so they are willing to put up with the miserable buggers

I had a very similar experience to you OP, with rudeness from both admin people and the nurses. I'm not precious about the way I'm spoken to by any means, but even I have my limits. I'm afraid to say I walked.

Oh I have endured many rude and arrogant health professionals. Sometimes they are insulting to the point of making you cry even while your child is dying. I'm not ever so offended that I fuck off and leave though.

Oh dear YouWin, I hope I never ever become like that

I stopped donating for a year because of the rudeness and new appointment system. Having gone back to it I cant say its improved much .

I haven't donated for a couple of years (low ferratin levels) but I remember the staff always being lovely when I went. I assumed that they picked the most pleasant staff and the people who were good at sticking the needles in painlessly for this job because they need to encourage donors in a way they don't need to encourage people who are ill to attend a doctor or nurse.

It's such a shame it seems to have changed when it is such a worthwhile thing to do.

When I used to go and give blood in the next time it wasn't always a pleasant experience due to the attitude of staff, they were bored and impersonal at best and gave the impression they would rather be somewhere else and not having to deal with donors

Then there was the nurse doing the pinprick test who sneezed into her hand and tried to continue doing my blood test. I asked if the hand washing guidelines didnt apply. She rather huffily used the alcohol stuff and was muttering on about it not being likely her having Swine Flu......it seemed lost on her er I didnt want handling with sneezed on hands

I donated a few times and always found them so thankful, constantly apologising for the wait, saying thank you for the donation several times (during the same appt). So I felt really good and useful, it's just a shame I've had to give it a break for a while as it was taking a long time to get the full donation and it was getting painful with each visit. Will definately go back to the same service when I feel up to it though!

I've always had positive experiences. However, I'm in the lucky position of being able to book my appointment from one session to the next.

Oneof - I've had that and I now know that it depends on who puts in the needle. I've had fantastic and extremely awful. YOu now have to drink about half a pint of water at the session just before you give. They say that gives better results. It has for me and I always make sure I eat something just beforehand, too.

YANBU - definitely complain.

I've never met rude or unprofessional people, but I've had terrible trouble with the appointment system. They used to organise it through my work but stopped because they didn't get enough donors, even though the sessions always got completely booked up . I could theoretically donate again now DS is over 9 months, but I haven't been able to find a session where they can fit me in on a day when I'm not at work.

They have always been lovely to me and I never make an appointment, just drop in. Then I have never used the van so it may be that.

They don't give a fuck. Same as everybody else in the NHS and society.

Err excuse me I work for the NHS and very much 'give a fuck' thanks

In fact, after they've introducted opt-out policy for organ donation, they'll introduce compulsory blood donation by strapping people down. They are just preparing their attitudes for that.

Not everyone in the NHS gives a fuck, Bimbo. I'm sure you work with some staff you'd rather not work with...

Nah they will be too busy arguing the toss about appointment slots to strap people down

I felt like that once after I turned up and was told very abruptly that I'd need an appointment, I was just turned away though, they didn't let me donate blood at all that day. I have been back to other sessions since, and managed to make appointments (then still had to wait as long as when it was just a drop in) and had lovely staff as well but if you have a bad experience it doesn't exactly make you feel like they really need your blood. Or indeed bothering to do something that is slightly uncomfortable and inconvenient.