An investigation of the impact of prolonged waiting times on blood donors in Ireland

Abstract

Although our results show that the respondents were not satisfied with current waiting times, it did not seem to affect their future intentions to donate. These findings provide some optimism for the future of blood donation in Ireland, as they suggest a strong sense of commitment to donation within the population sampled. Future research could explore the application of 'the service industry' approach to waiting times to blood donation clinics.

Negative experiences and donor return: an examination of the role of asking for something different

“…The last type of negative event is a service failure where the donor's expectations regarding the donation experience are not met. For example, donors who perceive long waiting times are less satisfied and are less likely to return . Physical injuries are also a service failure and arm or needle‐related injuries (bruising, soreness) and fatigue negatively impact donor retention.…”

Donor Satisfaction with a New German Blood Donor Questionnaire and Intention of the Donor to Return for Further Donations

“…Amongst these aspects are waiting times, motivation, and staff competence. Another factor was the experience of an adverse event and the reaction of the Blood Donor Service in order to help donors that suffered from adverse events [13][14][15].…”

Bloody fast blood collection

“…More recently, McKeever et al [132] confirmed the negative association of long waiting times with the probability that a donor returns for a subsequent donation.…”

“…A frequently mentioned reason for blood donors to stop donating is the experience of or at least perception of excessive waiting times at collection sites. This is supported by scientific research showing a negative association between return behavior of donors and waiting times [81,132]. This thesis presents a number of approaches, based on methods from the field of Operations Research, to compute and decrease waiting times at blood collections sites, without the need for additional capacity.…”

“…As the cost of staff and other resources at blood collection sites are a major part of the cost of blood, the efficient use of these resources is important and requires research. Blood donors value their time and long waiting times are an important reason to stop donating (Mckeever et al [132]). Simple methods to decrease waiting times without increasing the number of staff members do not exist, as, in general, the amount of unused capacity in the system is inversely related to waiting times.…”