Adventures in blood doning

For most of my life I've lived in the middle of nowhere. Literally in the middle of nowhere - until about eighteen months ago I was pretty much living in a field at the top of a hill. Consequently it was never very easy to go blood doning. Since moving I figured it was something that I really ought to be doing though. Where I live now probably isn't a town by most people's reckoning, but to me it's practically an urban jungle, and they do things like hold vaguely regular doning sessions. So, having seen banners up last October, I decided to go along. The banners were up outside the library, which is where they've always done these things, so that's where I went. Nothing going on there, despite that being where all of the posters were. And no, the posters didn't give any more information than the date. So I asked where I should go, and nobody at the library knew. Eventually I went to the out-patients clinic, and nobody there knew either, until finally somebody said that they thought it was at the community centre. Whatever that is. Anyway, I found the community centre (no posters there), and went in. Or tried to. The front gate was locked, so I had to find my way in around the back, and then negotiate a labyrinth of doors, all devoid of posters, or indeed any indication that there might be blood doning going on. But finally! Success. Blood doning! Except that you're not allowed to just drop in off the street nowadays, you have to make an appointment, apparently. Great. Still, I was endeavouring to be useful (it does happen occasionally), so I persevered, and got an appointment for May.

And I waited, and when the date came up, I went along. Only to find out that it had been cancelled. A single poster, once again outside the wrong building, told me the new date, one that I couldn't make. So presumably, in order to donate blood, I'm now going to have to wait until the next session in October, a year after the first attempt. And given previous experience, and having not been able to attend the most recent session to get an appointment for then, I'm likely just to be sent away again until next May.

I have an inkling that the NHS aren't too hot on organisation. That or they really don't like blood?!

Grrr.