Rant
You may recall back in May I tried to give blood and they didn't want it. At least they had a valid excuse that time (me visiting Uganda!). However, last night, I tried again. And failed again.
I booked an appointment, and whent the letter came through rang them to check the details of whether I would be able to donate. I was told yes, no problem. I turned up 10 minutes early, as I anticipated a few extra questions. 20 minutes after the appointment time I was called through. They ran through the questions, said there wouldn't be a problem, but that the nurse just needed to talk to me because of my trip to Africa. After another 10 minutes the nurse turned up. She had to phone a doctor to take a bar off me donating, otherwise the machine wouldn't accept me. Unfortunately it was, by this time, 6:40, and all the doctors had gone home. So after 50 minutes of waiting, answering questions, having my finger pricked and generally being frustrated, I had to go home without giving them anything.
The people there were very apologetic about it, but they shouldn't have to deal with it. I had booked an appointment for 6, phoned them, talked about the fact I had been unable to donate last time. Shouldn't this, at some point, have rung bells in the system? "Ooh, hang on, someone with a bar on their donations is coming in after the on call doctors' home times! Quick, let's sort this out!"
My charitable spirit is all but gone. I had to leave work early to get there, and my time was wasted in the most futile way. And I still have the problem - a bar on my donations, and the only time I can donate is after the doctors go home. My last hope is the phone line sorting it out. If not, I'm sorry guys, I'm all out of patience.
