1m blood donors book online
Nearly 1.5 million blood donation appointments have been booked online since NHS Blood and Transplant introduced a digital booking system two years ago.
The organisation has saved £1.2 million by allowing patients to book their own appointments electronically.
One million people across England and North Wales are registered to use the digital service via www.blood.co.uk, making it one of the largest digital booking systems of any blood service in the world.
People can register as a donor online, arrange, amend or cancel their own appointments and update their personal details and share feedback via Facebook.
Since its introduction in November 2013, nearly 1.5 million blood donation appointments have been booked and there have been more than 3 million digital transactions with registered donors
Donors can also download a mobile app to allow self-service appointment booking. There have been more than 150,000 downloads already and more than 45,000 donors used the app in the last month.
The service has seen a 3% increase in attendance from donors who booked via the online service
Ian Trenholm, chief executive of NHS Blood and Transplant, said the savings of £1.2 million are due to a reduction in transactions through the contact centre and a reduction in print costs as donors can view their welcome pack online and manage their own records.
“Donors are still able to use the contact centre to book appointments, but we hope that the success of the online appointment booking system will encourage more donors to register online and begin using this as a reliable and quick route to booking appointments to give blood,” he said.
“Our digital ambition doesn’t stop here – we are continuing to invest in technology across our operations, aimed at improving the donor experience even further.”
Public health minister Jane Ellison said: “this is a great example of how modern technology can be used to help save lives, improve efficiency and make things easier for those who want to give back."
