From Sam Edge
Your report of a fall in the number of new volunteers giving blood in England and Wales comes as no surprise to me (4 July, p 4). I first gave blood in my early 20s, when I saw signs for a donor session at a local municipal building and just walked in. Registered donors are now advised to make an appointment for a specific time in a specific session. It is very difficult to give blood without doing this, since the waiting time is otherwise prohibitively long – if any slots are left at all. There is little chance of first-time donors taking the plunge on impulse.
The new system is also often unusable for me because I cannot guarantee I will be home from my commute before the session ends.
Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
