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’m really interested to read these posts. I’ve always had a positive experience when giving blood and the team have always been cheerful and pleasant!

I book in advance so have my September session booked since April. So if you’re keen to book, please be patient and book in for a session later in the year, even if it’s October onwards.

it does seem strange that they put out a call for new donors but then their sessions for the next few months are all booked up though!

Oh, the people are always delightful.

It's the system that sucks.

I can’t usually book an appointment due to my rare blood type but I do check every now and then. I’ve just gone to the website to have a look and there’s a 5 minute wait to even log on. It’s ridiculously hard to give blood now.

Actually some of the people are horrible. Anyone would think I was trying to rob their granny, not hand over a pint of B+.

The donation centre near me is one of the happiest places I've ever been. The staff are an absolute joy to be around and it usually encourages me back. However I stopped after watching a woman faint and smash her head on the table after donating, and it was enough to put me off as I always feel dizzy. It really frustrates me that I can't see past that.

Sometimes I check for appointments when I hear they need donors but there are never any slots.

Well you just prompted me to book an appointment and…

there’s a queue to get into the website.

The donation centre near me is one of the happiest places I've ever been.

I remember one time when I was sitting waiting for my donation process to begin,an ABBA song came on in the background (Waterloo or one of the other big classics) and it was absolutely lovely to watch how loads of the staff and donors started subtly moving along with the music. The staff adapting all their movements to be in time with the rhythm, the donors tapping their feet etc.

It was a memorable feel-good moment, everyone in a place where kindness was so important all silently coming together in a bit of a bop.

I've only donated once do far....not been able to at various times due to infections etc that I went through runs of getting or just otherwise being unwell....then when I could book appointments again they kept cancelling them at the last minute and I don't drive, so getting in/out of town to get to the donation venue isn't particularly convenient for me.

I've just looked and the soonest appointment I can get is the 2nd week of October! Very helpful during a national shortage when I've got a blood type that they say they urgently need. I have booked one but you can't predict if you're going to catch a virus or if they're going to cancel on you again...

I never got a biscuit when I donated. I never got toast after I gave birth either. I'm not bitter.

Sounds about right. The moment I saw that whiny headline, I knew there would be a fresh round of dashed good intentions.

If you want to help the heath service, it's really much easier to not have an accident needing blood than it is to try and donate a pint.

My local donation centre has early evening slots. It can be hard to book a slot however, as they often get booked up well in advance. It would also be more convenient to have more donation centres as some of them aren’t very convenient to get to. I’m sure when I was at university you could just drop in.

I used to go to the place near Oxford Circus, but the snappy rudeness of the staff made me stop going there, as well as bruising from useless needle work; I wonder if that's the same location others mentioned? I then tried the mobile van near my office, but they shut down during covid and never reopened. They used to be good because they were there every week, so if I couldn't make it one week then queues still weren't silly the next week. I would still go if they parked up a blood van at the nearby hospital, or let people book slots with the phlebotomists, e.g. a few slots each day at quiet times. Would never go back to Oxford Circus though.

I’ve been a blood donor for over 30 years /50+ donations but agree it’s not easy , I book my appointment as soon as I come home from one and I drive , there’s one about 20 mins from me . Having said that my friend works in a blood bank for 3 hospitals and the amount that is wasted (as it’s held on standby ) .

I no longer donate. I can’t get a weekend appointment now as they have stopped doing them. I can’t donate on a work day as I faint if I’m rushing around before or after.

sadly the economics - such as is - make mobile donor collection very hard.

It wasn't so bad when a factory could deliver 200+ donors.

But so few people give blood, it's simply not viable.

That said, when our local (could walk to them) donor sessions stopped, I still schlepped into town for them.

I used to donate regularly.

Then I had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy that nearly killed me and I lost 3.5litres of blood into my abdomen. So, I can't donate now, but I am FOREVER grateful to those who can and do to save people like me.

Thanks.

I've been refused more than once because of not having a high enough haemoglobin level. My levels are high enough that a GP would have no concerns, but there's no doubt at all it takes my body a good few days to recover after losing a pint of blood. I am one of the slowest people at parkrun even on a good day, but within a week after donating it's no good even thinking about breaking into a light jog - nothing in the tank. Brisk walk is as good as it gets, which is fine. I'm glad they have the level as high as it is.

IIRC, they used to send out appointments in the post and the onus was then on the donor to change the appointment if it wasn't convenient. I much prefer doing it online.

Having a donor carer for 20 years. Up until 2021.
i can give you a few reasons why appointments are cancelled. This is a few of the disasters that have happened en route or at sessions.
One place we arrived at had a mouse infestation- not good for health and safety. Session cancelled
The lorry/minibus transporting us has broken down on a few occasions. By the time we eventually got there, we were 2 hours late.
One place had a huge wasps nest in the building- session cancelled.
We had a fire very close to a venue - session cancelled.
Problems with equipment.
We had a bomb scare once.
If there was a major traffic jam on the way that would leave us behind and the first few appointments were cancelled.
Another place we had a man running around outside with a knife, locked down and police called.
If for instance someone had to go home sick, this would leave us short staffed as over the years they cut staffing to the bone, we’d have to reduce the number of beds available so some appointments would need to be cancelled.
We have had issues with temperature- if it’s too hot or cold then it’s not safe to work.
And the reason there’s such a wait is the lack of staff, we worked so damn hard usually an 11 hour day. All you need then is someone to knock their teeth out by fainting and falling into a radiator, or a donor having a cardiac arrest, projectile vomiting, or a seizure and wetting themselves causing the one trained nurse to be occupied for hours then the session becomes behind and the waits get longer and longer as the days go on.
The problem we had before appointments, we’d have a queue of 40 when the session started, then we had no guarantee how many donors would turn up later on. Some days (back in the days when there was late night shopping on a Thursday) we’d have less than 10 donors.
What it ultimately came down to was staffing levels, but as we were travelling to a public venue sometimes over an hour away there could always be something that would happen that we couldn’t control.

I was 15 mins late for an appt to give blood after work because of some awful road works - I even tried calling the main number so they could possibly let the people know but it wasn't possible. When I arrived, the lady who was doing the check in process said "well you've missed your appointment", quite rudely, I was a bit surprised because they rarely run on time and I had tried to contact them. She said if I was willing to wait a while she would "try" and get me in. I waited, probably the amount I'd wait if I was on time and gave my donation but I've never been back.

They write to me because apparently my group is one of the rarer ones but that experience really ruined it.

I have been to Oxford Circus twice and the staff were so lovely (ground floor if that makes a difference). The first time was my first ever time giving blood and so many people thanked me for deciding to start donating. I got a mint club AND mini cheddars afterwards. And when I left the blood collection van was outside and even the blood van driver thanked me! It was an amazing experience.

They write to me because apparently my group is one of the rarer ones but that experience really ruined it.

Their GDPR also sucks. After I gave up, I kept getting begging letters and calls for 3 years after, despite my telling them I wasn't interested.

Anyway, despite the hard work involved, people who can should donate. I say that out of enlightened self interest, as if I ever need blood - only my tribe can help. And there aren't very many of us ......

Just had this posted in my local newspaper!!

I used to work at a company with 1,000 employees They had a mobile donor visit. However chatting to one of the staff, I was taken aback at how many donors were needed to make it viable.

They also commented that research found that regardless of what people say, availability of donor sessions isn't the reason they don't donate.

Completely agree. The NHS doesn’t work for patients or clinicians - it seems to work for the benefit of the bureaucrats.

There are so many ways to make things more efficient and easier in the NHS but they never seem to be adapted.