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?

I was turned away last week - also O-Neg, very keen to donate, close to 50th.
I had an abdo scan 2 months ago (told I would hear in 3 weeks if anything of significance).

No results yet after 2 months - so assuming all good.
They told me it’s an increasing problem for NBTS, many donors are told the same, but donations can’t be accepted until the all clear results are received - and people are waiting longer to receive the actual results.

They need to get those vans back out on the roads. My whole village was saying they would donate!!

Once they do the testing and confirm your blood type, trust me on this, you’ll be scared that they’re going to suck you dry! you’ll have all sorts of reminders by every medium possible, including phone calls to try and get you booked in at each point your blood becomes available again

That's exactly what I used to do until one day they told me that they were no longer going to visit the venue I attended and I would have to book online to an alternative venue. The staff actually told me it was because blood was needed less and less due to keyhole surgery which required less blood to be used. And since then I have been unable to find any appointments within 45 minutes of where I live. In fact if I put my county in for any date at any time it came up with nothing.

For the first time in 5 or more years, I was recently lucky enough to get an appointment in November for a venue 20 minutes drive away. In previous times there were 4 or more venues closer with much easier availability.

I only managed to book because my friend told me that appointments were available. People can't look every day to search for available appointments on the off chance that appointments have become available.

I found it v difficult to get an appt for my first donation but fine after. I'm in London and go to the blood donation clinic at Westfield Stratford and would recommend it for anyone within easy reach of there. Due to some medical issues I had to cancel my last donation but they have rung me since to book a new one for when I'm in the clear.

I just tried to book an appointment this week as an article about shortages came up in my feed. Haven't donated in a while, went online, no appointments available anywhere. I'm o positive, dh o negative. Totally shocking really.

That’s understandable however the rule still applies even if you received a transfusion yesterday. Once you have a transfusion, you can’t then give blood.

In saying you can't take a baby with you. Who is going to care for the baby whilst you're laid flat giving blood. Or the older child for that matter. What if you pass out?

It's blood donation not a day care centre.

I have the same issue. I would love to be able to help!

Just seen on my FB feed "If you can’t find an appointment immediately, please don’t worry. We’re working hard to make more available, so please check back on a regular basis."

Let's hope things improve for donors.

I tried a few years ago but they wouldn't give me an appointment as I wasn't a registered blood donor. When I asked how I could become a registered blood donor, they told me they'd do that at my appointment When I asked how to get past this minor logical impossibility, they told me to try a drop-in session. I looked up my nearest one, went at the right day/time for the drop-in, and was turned away for not having an appointment. I stopped pushing at a closed door.

Absolutely agree. Saw the call for O negative blood last week and no appointments available until September!
They seem to have closed the walk in donation option since covid too.
And where I live, no longer do the pop up donation clinics in church halls etc.
Awful system.

There are appointments available in the nearest city to me, but it would be an hour's journey each way, and involve a drive and 2 trains.

Other than that, all appointments within a 10 mile radius are in November or December.

In spite of seeing advertising on Facebook asking people to donate, it's just not possible around where I live.

If the problem.is shortage of staff, the public call for extra donors is at best useless and at worst counterproductive if people try to respond and are met with an overwhelmed system that puts them off trying in future.

I have A- blood which is the most sought after for platelets. You can't donate platelets until you've donated blood, which is fine. So I tried to arrange donating my blood but because I had a heart condition which was completely cured many years ago, they won't allow it in case I have an 'event' or something. Somebody from the national helpline called me to say it was ridiculous but it was the rule, that they were working on changing it and they would be in touch. That was about four years ago now.

As a regular donor, I agree. The booking system is very restricted what is more annoying is that a lot of people book then don't show up. So people are wasting appointments that others could take.

My last appointment, a few weeks ago, was actually cancelled on my way there. I didn't even see the message until I got there and they asked if I'd received a cancellation text. Literally came 8 mins before my appointment. I actually think it was cancelled on that occasion as I am type O and they were prioritising another blood type.

I will say there is no way you can bring kids. It is a completely unrealistic expectation to have.

There were safety issues with the vans, adverse events cannot be managed properly due to lack of space. There were a couple of serious critical incidents on vans, and in addition they are not cost effective to run.

They still have them, or at least, they still had them last year as I got an interview for a job on one. I ended up withdrawing my application because the shifts were so long.

There were safety issues with the vans, adverse events cannot be managed properly due to lack of space. There were a couple of serious critical incidents on vans, and in addition they are not cost effective to run.

Fair enough. But then there needs to be an alternative way to organise donations. The NHS can't make desperate pleas for blood donors and then make it practically impossible for most people in the target age-range to donate.There are lots of small hospitals and large multi-GP practices that could have blood buses/vans on site a certain number of days per month. They still wouldn't be accessible to absolutely everyone but they would allow a lot of people to donate who can't do so currently.

I'm well aware, I'm an anaesthetist by trade and transfuse blood pretty much every other shift :)

I couldn't agree more! Between DH and I, we have had appointments cancelled with no notice (found out when we turned up at the donor centre) six times! Add to that the countless times I go to book and am told there are currently no available appointments, the drama of finding parking despite there being designated spaces for donors, there are other people sat in their cars and noone willing to move them on.

To add to it, this donor centre is regularly named as one that is in desperate need of donations - I truly despair

I agree with the rule of not bringing children, whilst some maybe fine, the ones that cause chaos are an absolute nightmare for staff to manage and they don't have the time or facilities to add this onto their role

Conversely I donate blood regularly and each time I do, the donation venue is full, busy and has walk ins that they have to turn away due to being fully booked.

So far I’ve not had any trouble booking a slot and I’ve been doing it for about 5 years now.

I asked them yesterday for a password reset email as I wasn't able to log in. Still waiting >24 hours later.

I used to be a regular donor.

Did I make up that you can't donate if you have acupuncture?