Care Opinion

Disappointed with how we were treated

Posted By tangopx39

"Disappointed with how we were treated"

About: Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service

(as a service user),

I booked and arrived to donate blood in Richhill, I had my son with me. I was asked could he go out and sit in the car as not permitted to remain in the hall, it was explained that it was too high risk in case I took unwell, realistically if he was left sitting in a dark car park I would imagine that would of higher risk as he would be sitting alone not knowing what was going on.

I was really disappointed on how my son and I was treated. I'm a healthcare professional and I genuinely see the benefit of donating blood, in particular O-. Unfortunately my son and I left and I didn't donate. There was no compromise, I would not have been expected to be treated like this by a health care professional or any member of the team.

Whilst in the carpark I seen another lady going in with a younger child so it would be interesting to hear how that progressed.

Going forward I feel there should be more communication around this, I was disappointed tonight!

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Responses

Response from Catherine Casey, Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service last week
Catherine Casey
Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service

Submitted on 11/11/2024 at 17:05
Published on Care Opinion at 17:08

Sorry to hear you and your son had a disappointing experience at an NIBTS session.

Safeguarding of children is of upmost importance to NIBTS we are currently reviewing our policy on children attending session with their parents

The current policy is:-

Adults who attend a donation session with a child /ren must be accompanied by a second responsible adult who is NOT donating blood. The accompanying responsible adult is responsible for the care and supervision of the child/ren during the blood donation process and if the donating adult becomes unwell following the donation. Due to consideration of risks presented, child/ren and the accompanying responsible adult will be asked to wait at the admin / reception area.

I am sorry this information is not made more readily available on our website and we aim to improve this- we are currently reviewing how we can accommodate older children attending session with their parents.

Kind Regards

Catherine Casey

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