To think the NHS could do better if they are so desperate for blood?

[chickpea1982]

Apparently the NHS are desperate for blood at the moment. I have O negative blood, which is in particularly high demand. I've just tried, and failed, to find an appointment - not for the first time either. There is nothing near me for the rest of the year (I live in Surrey, not the depths of beyond). I have 3 kids and a job, so my availability is pretty limited anyway, but still - nothing?!

I'm told that they would offer priority appointments once I've had my first appointment and they have confirmed my blood type, which is just ridiculous. The NHS has records of my blood type already. And I can't get a first appointment!!

Also, you can't bring kids with you, even babies. That further restricts when I could go and how far I could go as I'd have to get someone else to look after the kids.

It's like they are making it intentionally hard! Surely they could do better if they are so desperate?

Yes the desperate calls for blood are getting right on my norks. Why aren't the press picking up you struggle to get a sodden appointment to give the stuff?

It's like a black hole of blaming the masses for potential deaths. Why are they doing it?

I agree! I’ve encountered this before too

Same, no appointments for months and I’m happy to drive up to 45mins.

I have a very rare sub type that they are constantly crying out for.

Have also had several appointments cancelled at very short notice and I turned up to one session to be told they were stopping early due to traffic problems and someone should have texted me (no text received ). Luckily that one was only 10 mins away but I’d arranged a day off to attend.

They went through a stage of constantly calling me to try to persuade me to donate but I’d recently had a post exposure course of rabies vaccinations. The person calling me couldn’t tell me if I could still donate and said they wanted to refer it and get back to me. I wasn’t that bothered about giving or not by that stage. I got a message a month later saying something vague, like, “we’ve referred your query and as someone has come back to you it’s now dealt with” this happened 3 times.

Agree it used to be much easier to donate - I'm O negative and when I looked recently the only available appointments were in central London. Which would be an hour's journey and the cost of the tube fair. They used to do regular sessions in the church hall opposite where you could just drop in. I can only think they are not as desperate as they make out or they'd make it easier for people to donate. It's almost impossible for working parents.

I completely agree. You can see just from the responses already that loads of people want to give blood, but can't because of their inadequate systems. Instead of asking people to give blood they should be taking a look at their appointment system to make the process easier.

I used to give blood but after a cancer diagnosis I can't now donate although likely my cancer was environmental and not circulating in my dna.

I totally understand the policy though but as 1 in 2 of us will get cancer, 50% of the population are excluded plus many other factors that prevent donation.

The donator pool is decreasing but i'm not clear how this is being addressed.

I was discussing this with a friend. We both remember when you didn't have to make an appointment but turned up at the village hall and queued. Always very busy and never had to wait long. They'd be there all afternoon, with two long sessions to donate, the later one well into the evening. Neither of us donate now as it seems to be run for the Transfusion Service's benefit rather than encouraging and keeping donors.

YANBU.
I pretty much gave up donating when they stopped the donor sessions nearest to me, which were always incredibly busy, and I was told they could fill the one in the local large town 3x over, and ours was too small.
Then the next 2x I tried to donate, my appointment was moved or cancelled.

The nearest locations are 7 and 10 miles from home, and neither take me near anywhere else I need to go.

I just lost the will.

But I'll try again when they finally send me an email to renew my password.

Weren't long enough? Your veins run along the length of your arm. I think your problem must be so unusual that it doesn't warrant having different length needles.

I understand them not being wide enough (I've had that problem), but they can't use a narrower bore needle otherwise the donation would be too slow.

A trip out to Westfield would be my idea of hell! Plus a three hour journey each way, and I'd need childcare for an entire day. There must be an easier option. Currently no appointments local to me well into 2025. The nearest one is in December, 8 miles away, one (inconvenient) day only.

Staffing issues.
Not enough staff to do the bare minimum never mind anything extra.

Yes I tried to book an appointment on the website as BBC said they were desperate for O Negative. I've donated before but not for a while

Anyway it said it would take 40 minutes due to the online queue so I immediately clicked off the internet and carried on with my day

They did, and they also used to set up sessions in workplaces. I used to be a regular donor and it was always in workplaces. The sessions were always well attended.

There were no appointments either, it was all walk-ins.

The call for more blood was sometime last week, or the week before so I suspect people have responded and they're OK now.

It does frustrate me that the news reports focus on calling more people to donate, but don't report on the widely known issues of donors not being able to make appointments or the frustration of appointments being cancelled, often on the day. It comes down to money of course.

Jolted in to action by this, I’ve just registered and made a local appointment for 3 weeks time. (Not given blood for about 30 years 😳). We’ll see if it gets cancelled, tho’ I’ve no reason to think it will be.
Scotland here.

You don’t have to book through the website. You can ring them on:
0300 123 2323
and book an appointment over the phone.

@RoseAndRose regarding the needle sizes, the needle, tubing, 3 blood collection bags and the testing pouch all come as one sealed/air free system to prevent infection or air entry. Changing a needle would breach the system and render it non sterile.This would expose the recipient of the donation to risk.The needle itself is specifically designed for collection of a 520ml donation and is completely different from a needle used to collect a blood sample or give IV meds.

NHS is not a homogenous organisation, though. You GP will have some records, your OBGYN will have something else on their system, and all other services will have something completely different going on at their end. Remember many years ago there was a big scandal about the government wasting a lot of public money on unified records system which never actually came to be? That's why we can't see your records.

Thanks for reminding me op. I've just booked at appt. Had to que for a few minutes to log on and then got an appt 2 weeks from now. Is it not a good thing that appts are filling fast and ques to get on the site? It means people are donating

Having seen this thread, I looked online and after a short 3min queue, I'm booked onto a session ten mins walk from me, this Friday afternoon. Blown away, must just have been sheer luck. Last time I tried to donate my closest option was really far away and then they cancelled on the day!

As soon as I became eligible again after 12 months out due to low iron count I started getting phone calls. Once they got hold of me I was offered a next day appointment. My local centre is a couple of miles away.

This was tried. About 40% of people opted out, so it never happened. The public do not want it even if you do.

I was interested in donating but the nearest venue to me is about an hour each way on the train plus a bus ride to get to the centre itself. It’s just not practical with a full time job and other commitments.

I remember many years ago popping down to the local town hall with a group of colleagues during our lunch break and donating blood, our employer would then pay for us all to have lunch at the next door pub as a thank you!

They can't be that short then if all.the sessions are fully booked.im AB+. I've donated a few times but then got a letter saying don't bother anymore cos we only need certain blood types so no point in booking an appointment. Family member is B neg and they are always on the phone asking for donations

They are very wasteful with the blood stocks they have. I should have had an iron infusion 2 months ago which would have prevented needing a blood transfusion, disorganized GP & hospital initially refused it & guess what a call from hospital this morning saying it's dropped further & now need to go in for blood.
Repeated transfusions most of which could have been prevented have left me with a list of atypical antibodies meaning I can't have standard o neg blood so has to come from special stocks in London.
I think because it's donated to them they don't care about waste.