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Original poster

Giving Blood - next available apt 84 days....

102 replies

SussexBonfireViking · 03/08/2018 11:54

If we are so short on supplies of blood, then why are there no appoints before 84 days? I had to miss my last appointment as they changed the requirements on where i had been overseas, (told me at my appointment, but not a problem) so i could rebook from the next week - but i tried to rebook and the next appointment near where i live (or work) is not til october (my cancelled one was in July)

i know nhs funds are tight, but i dont like being made to feel guilty for not giving blood, when its not actually possible

OP posts:
namechangedtoday15 · 03/08/2018 23:00

Mrs Dean the quickest donation time I've ever done is 45 mins (in and out) - you have to check in, then you have a finger prick test, get asked a few questions and then donate. You have a quick check of your veins, they have to sterilise your arm for a set time and then you have to actually donate. You get sat up, then walked over to the tea area, which you can leave as soon as you like as long as you feel ok.

Riotgrrrrrl · 03/08/2018 23:02

I never had any problems giving blood. I've given 24 pints but I'm now on medication for life and they won't let me donate any more Sad

ShiningWhit · 03/08/2018 23:03

I get them calling me weekly at the moment. I get a begging letter when I go online to look for availability.
It's bonkers. They ask me to book online but nothing.
Totally beyond rubbish. So disheartening - universal donor BYW.

Daily Mail please pick this one up.

Giving Blood - next available apt 84 days....
thejeangenie36 · 04/08/2018 00:03

Yep, I've donated for 15 years and the organisation has never been as bad as it is now. They don't seem to have enough appointments so I regularly go 6 months or more without donating, even though I want to do more and I am a universal donor. NHS needs to put on more appointments at times of day those in full time work can attend. Staff shortages in the service also mean waiting times are long, though staff have always been polite and professional. No facility for staff at the venue to make you a future appointment if it's not at that venue doesn't help.

But - I wouldn't want anyone reading this to be put off giving blood. It's a bit of a hassle at times, and the organisation of it could be better, but it saves lives.

BakedBeans47 · 04/08/2018 00:09

I haven’t been for ages. They sent me a letter saying that they didn’t really need my blood group and I could have a “donation holiday” and I have just got out the way of it since then. I used to work near the blood donation centre so it was easy to go, but I don’t now and the community sessions are never convenient for me either.

DGRossetti · 04/08/2018 07:30

Have you checked the parameters on the online booking ?

Oh, and if you double-donate, you can't use the online system ....

sueelleker · 04/08/2018 08:21

What's double-donate?

ForalltheSaints · 04/08/2018 08:23

Agree about cuts and the service being viewed seemingly as a Cinderella service.

Is there not somewhere where you can turn up and donate? Used to be in central London, though as I book next appointment when donating, have not used it for several years.

Original poster
SussexBonfireViking · 04/08/2018 09:11

I always book my next appointment when I'm at my session, but I had been rejected ( 😥 ) because I had been to Bermuda and it was added to restricted countries and I had to wait another week, so I would like to have donated the next week, but there are no appointments available

I have booked for the one 84 days away, but it's just crazy

OP posts:
SittHakim · 04/08/2018 10:20

ForalltheSaints, there used to be one at Bart's, but I think that's closed, and Margaret Street may take walk-ins sometimes but definitely not in the evenings after work as all the appointments are booked up miles ahead by people like me.

DGRossetti · 04/08/2018 13:35

What's double-donate?

www.blood.co.uk/news-and-campaigns/the-donor-magazine-summer-2017/a-new-frontier-for-red-cells/

They collared me for it last year, as I'm O-ve with something missing that's good news for babies. They put you on the same machine as for platelets and white blood cells, but with different settings.

Quite good as it means I only go twice a year. But quite shit (and I've let them know that) as it's not hooked into the online system.

cookiesandchocolate · 04/08/2018 13:45

Just check again later and get in on a cancellation.

Giving blood requires a lot of effort from staff, it's not just a case of turning up and donating (England based)

I had to cancel my app and couldn't fit a new one in. Checked a couple of days later and booked a same day app due to cancellations.

That being said, I won't donate again as I suffered months after with low iron and it's only now I feel human again that I realised how much I struggled

specialsubject · 04/08/2018 13:49

I am a long time donor and the efficient Welsh blood service got me in and out in under an hour. 10 mins wont happen, the donation alone takes longer than that. go straight out without a pause and you will probably crash your car.

Original poster
SussexBonfireViking · 04/08/2018 13:54

Giving blood requires a lot of effort from staff, it's not just a case of turning up and donating (England based)

its not exactly no effort from the donors either

i'll keep trying to get a cancellation as suggested by a pp

OP posts:
SittHakim · 04/08/2018 14:21

cookies, so because it's work they don't have to be polite to the donors? The clue's in the name - donors. People give purely altruistically: there's no benefit whatsoever to me in taking two hours out of my day and handing over a pint of blood, but I do it because I feel I should. If staff persistently treat me as a nuisance, I'm going to stop giving, because my time has value and I don't see why I should give it up to be treated badly.

DGRossetti · 04/08/2018 14:23

This thread reminds me of stories about buses that don't stop to pick up passengers, as it means they'll be late for the next stop ...

Toddlerteaplease · 04/08/2018 14:46

@SittHakim I gave a blood transfusion of B+ on Thursday night!

zeebeedee · 04/08/2018 15:36

I'm a teacher and can only really donate in the holidays as all the appointments are during working hours, so I've donated at the start of this holidays, but can't make my next appointment for the Christmas holidays as the system isn't taking bookings that far ahead - the member of staff who I had this discussion with was pushing for me to make an appointment on some random Monday in November and didn't seem to get that I wouldn't be able to do that.

BreconBeBuggered · 04/08/2018 16:00

It's all going to shit. I can't always donate due to medication, pregnancies and being too skinny (once upon a time) but even so have clocked up around 40 donations. Right now I don't know when I'll next be able to donate. I live in a small rural town which until recently had its own donor sessions several times a year, afternoon plus evening. Now it shares a session with another small town several miles away at a village hall in between the two, and appointments are all before 6pm. Bus service is sparse, so nobody from either location can realistically get there without a car, and no possibility of an appointment outside daytime working hours.

StrawberrySquash · 04/08/2018 16:43

When I was a student they would set up in the hall, you'd walk in, wait a bit and they'd take the blood. Easy. These days I'm in London and it's very hard to get an appointment. I went to a walk in session, left work early to get there and they were, frankly, rude when they turned me away. Like they were doing me a favour taking the blood. I kind of assume that that the pay and conditions are shit and the sessions are constantly overrunning from how I see the staff acting. So I try not to judge them because I suspect they are being shat on. I wondered if it was a London thing as it's presumably more expensive to collect here, but I looked at donating near my parents and appointment availability was no better. I'm A+ so not the most useful blood, I genuinely don't know if I should bother or not. I figure there must be other people's blood they want more, and maybe I should let them have my slot?

Halfahunnerstillastunner · 04/08/2018 20:14

It's depressing reading. Fucking Tory cuts, austerity, let's run the NHS into the ground then sell it off to our private chums for a fat cut of the profits. Bastards.

I've donated blood since I was 18 and usually manage to get an appt when the mobile service comes round our way. They are pleasant and efficient as they can be, given shortages.

Mrs in our mobile service, the whole process usually takes about an hour and a half (checking form, fingertip test, waiting for a couch to be free, waiting for a nurse to be free to insert needle, takes me about 15 minutes to fill the bag then tea and rest for 15 mins, you might need longer if it's your first time too). Did you think they could suck out the blood in 60 seconds like a vampire and you're good to go? 😂 sorry you definitely won't make it in the timescale you mentioned.

ResistanceIsNecessary · 04/08/2018 20:26

YANBU. I've stopped donating for the time being because of the difficulty in getting an appointment.

champagnesupernouveaux · 04/08/2018 20:37

It does seem to be getting more difficult. I last went in May and have booked again for September, so they better hadn't cancel! There's never any appointments near me that arentduring work time, so I've been going to the Margaret St centre in central London, where there usually seems to be more availability. Note to anyone who goes or is thinking of going there soon - it's currently closed for a refurb, which will include additional beds. I believe they're also considering opening every Sunday. There's a temporary centre nearby, can't remember exactly where.

DonttouchthatLarry · 04/08/2018 20:43

I went the other week and they were running an hour behind - I couldn't wait so said I'd book another appointment online when I got home. I couldn't get anything until 26th November! And this was trying various venues within a fairly wide radius.

My dogs give blood - they were both in and out in under an hour last time - I wish the Pet Blood Bank could take mine too, would make it much easier!

SittHakim · 04/08/2018 20:43

Royal College of Nursing - I've just booked my next appointment and it's there in November. Think Margaret St reopens in December.