i have been booking my appointments for quite a few years now and I find this app really easy to use to book, cancel or change your appointments if you need to. Plus you also have a list of venues to choose from should your usual place not be available. It is also full of really good information with health check information so that you can see if you are eligible to donate. It also contains easy access and details of your previous donations. I think this is one of the best apps ever, also they actually have people who you can ring and speak to if you are unsure of anything, something which you don’t often find these days. The only downside I have is that they ask you to choose a time slot (I have recently given my 60th donation) which is never needed as I often have had to wait at least an hour past my appointment time so what is the point of this. Would It not be easier for donors to just arrive on a first come basis and wait in a queuing system

It is not easy to book appointments WHERE and WHEN you want to go. The app pushes me to ONLY A FEW venues where blood donor sessions are happening in the area local to me. And often these are where there is little or no parking facilities. -Not appropriate or safe to use public transport in these Covid times and UNFAIR of the NHSBT to expect that. I would rather drive for 20 minutes to a venue that is safe to get to and where the parking is available and free. But even if you try and pick another location it doesn’t work, gives you dates many months away if at all. Many donors complain about how hard it is to get appointments. They can’t get the venue they want as the option just doesn’t come up. Or when trying to book in advance there is No availability for several months after their 12week /16week required gap between donations. (A lot of slightly older donors have said they miss the chance to book appointments before they leave their current session appointment. -This is prior to my donor experience so not my opinion but of several others I have met.)The app would be great - if it actually gave you the options for appointments that suited you. There is lots of lovely information on the app, just not the easy donor-friendly functionality of appointment booking.

Just downloaded and booked my next appointment in about a minute. Couple of bits of feedback on the UX; when I first opened the app, I pressed the time at the location I wanted and the time came up like a telephone number would with the option to call on my iPhone, which was confusing. There’s a lot of dual siting in the menu at the top and directly beneath the booking function, and you’re not consistent on the name of things “Donations to Date” and “My donor record.”In menu>my donor record>, your donation history comes underneath the message about cancelling an existing appointment and the donation locater tool. I think that’s a bit clunky as I had to scroll three times to see my donation history. The “can you give” questionnaire is helpful, but finding it wasn’t obvious to me that it was there until I played around for a bit. I think you could stand to lose all that copy with the icons that take up loads of space in the section underneath each page and just launch the questionnaire. I love the travel section, the way the map moves to the location you’ve been to looks smart, but it took me a while to find that too. I think there are a lot of clever features on the app that people may miss out on, as you have to hunt for them. It’s quite copy heavy and possibly a bit more complex than it needs to be, but it definitely does the job well, like I say I was able to book a donation in about a minute! My other feedback is only based on exploring the app afterwards.

When I went to Donate last December, to my horror, my Haemoglobin was below the acceptable level 😳. My Donation sessions were being suspended for a year 😲. So, so disappointed, especially as this was to be my 💯th donation 😢. I was advised to get a blood test from my Doctor which I managed to get in January. The results came back with the reading up to where it was on the last test in June 💁🏼‍♂️ ?? Upon this I phoned the Blood🩸Bank to try & get back on track & after a few days I was able to get into my account & book an appointment. My local venue of Leighton Buzzard wasn’t available until May so I booked in at Bletchley & successfully donated yesterday, 5th March A nice venue & all very attentive. On top of this I received a phone call this morning to ask if I’d like to book in for my next appointment 😃, Wow - very efficient & saved me going online. I originally started giving at the Colindale centre, many years ago 🙄, then moved onto the Luton branch, (where there were handmade sandwiches, plus a can of Guinness available if not driving),Then once I retired it was easier to give locally at the Brooklands club. My appreciative Thanks to ALL the staff along the journey, for their caring & Dedication. I personally know of friends, (including my Wife 🙏🏻), that had to have transfusions, proving the importance of ‘Giving Blood 🩸 is so crucial. Douglas M(You have my permission to print this if so desired).