Donating blood is not made easy for people

[Floogal]

Listening to today's news, regarding the severe shortages of blood stocks and the call to get more donors has got me thinking.

https://www.itv.com/news/2025-06-09/nhs-calls-for-an-extra-200000-blood-donors-as-stocks-run-low

They don't exactly make it easy for people to donate as sessions are often at inconvenient times and places (week days and working hours when most people are working). And as a former donor myself, I was often made to feel that they were doing me a favour by letting me donate. Not forgetting the cancelled sessions.

I first donated years ago and inserting the needle was ridiculously painful and the needle itself was HUGE.

I donated within the past year and it was fine, nowhere near how I remembered it! Other than the staff were rude as anything (seems common from this thread!) and acted as though they were doing me a favour by having me there.

But yeah, finding a place and time is a nightmare now!

These vans were brilliant

The times don’t work for me and I can’t donate for a while after piercings, and then all the sexual questions and limits

The only time I've tried to donate I waited hours because they were so slow and then they told me off like a child for missing lunch and being dehydrated! Haven't bothered again

As someone whose benefited from donor blood twice as needed blood transfusion thank you all for your donations. It’s so vital and you all are amazing

Hopefully the media pick threads like this up and can run counter reports on why blood stocks are low, rather than just the one sided 'we need your blood and you're not donating enough' style reporting.
It's such a missed opportunity when people actively want to donate.

I am not allowed to donate for medical reasons but my parents both did it regularly. The sessions were drop ins in our town hall on Saturdays. But this was when working Saturdays was not common, pre sunday opening etc.

My sister did look into it but locally the sessions are on weekdays and you need to make an appointment, so take AL for it.

I agree that if they want more donors, they need to make it easier.

I must be lucky as my local donation sessions run like clockwork and I never have any issues. I did think it was a bit rubbish that you have to wait 3 months to try donating again if your iron was low - my session in January I was literally 1 number lower than the minimum so they wouldn't let me donate that day and I had to wait for 3 months (I just donated again a couple of weeks ago). But I get it, they have to be safe and it obviously hasn't put me off. I also love that they let me know where my blood has gone to.
Just touching on a point from a previous poster, a vein only 'blows' if it has been hit so I would absolutely want a pressure dressing if my vein blew!! 🩸

Family member lives on the Isle of Wight and has over the years donated many many times. However there is now no longer a donation service on the island so he has to get a ferry to the mainland which is inconvenient and expensive. IOW population according to Google 140,000. You would think maybe there would be enough demand for local sessions.

Depending on where you are in the UK 20 miles is local.

It seems I’ve been quite lucky giving blood - I like being able to book appointments, I can usually get one within a few days, have never had an appointment cancelled and the staff have always been really nice. I live in a city with a donation centre though which makes things easier.

From the press releases, the shortage in England isn’t evenly spread across blood groups and the availability of appointments depends on your blood group.

I’m o negative so always getting calls urging me to donate as O neg can be given to anyone without checking their blood type so vital in emergency transfusion situations. Only 7% of the population has it. I have been a donor for decades.

However I lost patience with them when I booked time off work to attend an appointment at 11:45 am. Got to the venue to be told that there had been some sort of logistical issue that morning so all morning appointments had been cancelled. They would take people booked in from 12 noon only. I explained I was O neg and suggested they might want to try to fit me in, offered to wait as long as they needed. They sent me away. I’d be absolutely amazed if 100% of their afternoon bookings turned up, and they tell me every single time how important my blood is so you’d think they might have bumped someone who had a less rare/universal blood type. But not one person there was able to think laterally, or apply any common sense. For the sake of 15 minutes they lost my donations for ever.

It sound infuriating but just wanted to say THANK YOU as having a blood transfusion saved my life and I will forever be grateful that people like you are out there and donating.

I guess it depends where you live. I'm a train ride from a blood donor centre and I currently don't need an appt due to my blood type and they're open weekends and early evenings. Unfortunately I have a cough I can't clear so I can't donate. They keep messaging me but I can't clear this cough up

I never have any problems donating but I’m lucky enough to have a donation centre in my city. It’s open on a Sunday too which makes life easier. I can always get an appointment at a convenient time and as I’m O-neg I try to go as often as I’m allowed. I’d go more frequently if they’d let me!

Realise I am very lucky as I wfh, so can usually time appointments around lunch and go back to work easily. I also use the app which I find quite easy to get an appointment with, and you don’t have to deal with the scary, guilt tripping people on the phone

but the comments here remind me of why I stopped going about 15 years ago. when I was younger and still living in my home town, my previous donation had given an adverse reaction and I was told to attend to give a sample only the next time. When the nurse realised I wasn’t giving a full donation, she treated me like absolute crap and basically told me I was wasting her and everyone’s time! So I didn’t bother going for about 5 years.

outside of my home town the nurses are much friendlier and I’ve just hit 25 donations 😊

Wow, so many tales of obstructive and plain rude medical staff, aside from difficulty booking appointments, many last minute cancellations etc. No wonder people don't donate. If it was me I would have to say something. I used to go, along with my daughter about 15 years ago, it never used to be like that.

Is there anyone who's currently or recently working in a blood donation centre, can they justify why it should be this way?

It'll be lack of resources and burnout, in some teams.

My DW was a donor before cancer + subsequent chemo meant she can’t anymore.

She had an abrasive time with the nurse about the ‘have you ever injected drugs question’

She answered no - because she hadn’t in the normally accepted manner of the question.

Later question brought up gestational diabetes. Towards the end of her pregnancy she did inject insulin. Prescribed insulin. She could have asked a nurse to come round 2x a day to do this.

’So you have injected drugs’. ‘How are we to know it was just insulin?’

‘but it was prescribed, I could have had a nurse round to do it.’

A most illogical discussion. She didn’t donate that session and as they couldn’t get round the question didn’t go again.

She followed it up with a letter questioning the pedantic nature of the question, answer and their response.

I’m O negative and after my 78th donation I received a letter from them telling me I could no longer donate as I have antibodies in my blood, that aren’t detrimental to me but could be to someone who is already ill!

Yes I agree. I'm O negative same as previous posters, known as the universal blood type (my blood can be used for basically everyone).

I've tried to donate several times and either the appointment gets randomly cancelled or because on the form it questions drug use and I declare I took drugs (not injected or anything, just some mushrooms) a few times two decades ago I'm rejected outright.

I'm not sure how me taking mushrooms maybe three times as a teen affects my blood quality in my 30s and 40s but hey ho. I've given up trying now.

When I worked for big companies, we used to have a bus come round regularly. I think they also go to business parks which may have multiple smaller companies. I found that ideal.

I can't donate any more because I had a severe injury and lots of transfusions.

Unfortunately I agree. I had a shocking experience trying to donate blood a year or two ago.

Really put me off.

I gave 51 times and had to give up due to meds /illness. DH used to go, he is O- so can be given to anyone but he can't book months inadvance so doesn't donate at the moment. If they had drop in sessions he would go

Not sure why it went so wrong, at the drop in sessions people were happy to wait and could fit in around work/school runs etc. Ours were always busy.

Edit to add : I've always found the staff really friendly and chatty, can't recall ever having anyone unpleasant.

I used to struggle getting an appointment at the mobile ones, then lived close to a permanent centre and had a completely different experience. They could do with setting up more clinics in hospitals to improve reliability, availability and reach more areas.
Also really sad to hear of staff showing contempt, please report this. I’ve been rejected at my last two appointments (low iron) after 31 successful donations and they’ve still been really kind.

I’m glad it’s not just me! I’ve been keen to donate for ages but with a demanding full time job and 3 kids and having appts cancelled, I just can’t seem to do it.
One of my children needed an operation 13 years ago at a major hospital so I thought I’d pop into their donation centre, but was turned away for not having an appt, and no available appts bookable for the few days I was staying there (it was a pretty major op). It seems like madness - who are these people managing to keep stock levels up?