Blood Sweat and Profits - marketisation of the blood service

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Blood Sweat and Profits - marketisation of the blood service

by ianrthorpe @ 2008-01-04 – 15:51:54

A couple of weeks before Christmas Little Nicky Machiavelli brought to your attention the scandal that is going on in the National Blood Service under the guise of reorganisation. Market driven policies are being introduced, regional blood banks are to be closed in favour of a centralised service. Cost cutting is given as the justification, the consequences of delaying emergency surgery on an accident victim because blood products have to be transported a couple of hundred miles on our gridlocked motorways are not even considered.

If you think this is wrong and want to help you can get involved on Monday Jan 7th. Here's how.

How can you help: We are calling a co-ordinated phone blockade about the proposed NBS cuts to coincide with the return of parliament on 7th January.

Please telephone, fax or email the UK Health Minister outlining your concerns about the cuts to the National Blood Service. Help tie down his phone and fax machine on January the 7th and help us make an impact.

Alan Johnson MP

Phone:-
0207 219 1305
0207 219 6637
01482 219211

Fax:-
01482 219211
0207 219 5856

Email:-
windlet@parliament.uk
johnsona@parliament.uk

This blog will bring more news of the campaign and info about how you can support it. Follow our tag link to blood shown below for web sites dedicated to this cause.
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8 Comments to Blood Sweat and Profits - marketisation of the blood service

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- sallyontour ^Pro
- 2008-01-04 @ 16:02:18
Okey dokey, and they're not having any more of mine until they change their minds, so there.
- - ianrthorpe
  - 2008-01-05 @ 15:07:02
  Well last time I tried to give blood they turned me down coz I'd had a tattoo. After that I worked abroad and then I was on medication so I'm not good enough for them.
  
  I suppose the Pound shop might be able to market stuff like mine though.
  - - sallyontour ^Pro
    - 2008-01-05 @ 15:26:34
    I might be able to get something for your kidneys on Ebay.
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- - bloodthirsty (Visitor)
  - 2008-01-08 @ 22:07:00
  Dear Sally, your comment is understandable but the whole point of opposing the proposals is to protect the service for patients who desperately need blood. Blood is a lifesaving and priceless gift and new donors are always needed. The best way to help stop the cuts is to hassle politicians into taking a stance against it, telling health professionals who might be unaware about the plans, writing to your local paper etc. But not to boycott donating, or even to joke about it Sorry to sound dramatic. A small proportion of people are unable to donate, but the fact is that currently only around 5% of people in the UK who ARE able, do. And around xmas can be a particularly 'dry' time for donations.
  Speaking as someone who has a relative alive thanks to blood transfusion, and who along with my family has given many pints to the service, I am against the cuts too, but not donating has the opposite affect to what we all want which is an efficient, reliable life-saving NBS.
  - - sallyontour ^Pro
    - 2008-01-08 @ 22:54:51
    Oh dear, don't fret - I'm afraid you don't understand my wierd sense of humour, which Ian does only too well!
    
    I was only joking; in fact I am donating an armful on Monday, after work. Should've gone on Christmas Eve but what with running around like a headless chicken trying to get Christmas Day together I confess I forgot all about it!
    
    I've been going ever since I started weighing enough for them to stop refusing me, which is now about five years, and the only time I've missed is after coming back from India, when they didn't want it.
    
    As a former psychi nurse who did a stint in general and on A&E, I understand only too well the need for donors, and would encourage anyone who hasn't yet donated to go along and give it a try.
    
    I will be protesting, however, about the above proposals, which I think will further deter people from donating and have grave implications so far as delivery of blood products to where they are needed is concerned.
    
    I am glad that you were able to keep your relative.
    
    Hugs xx
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  - - ianrthorpe
    - 2008-01-09 @ 17:45:45
    Bloodthirsty,
    Didn't mean to irritate anyone, perhaps I should explain that I was asked to write a vicious satire by members of the campaign against the cuts. I did and it is posted on the humour blog Boggart Blog which I seem to have forgotten to link here until now National Northern Rock Blood Bank Service. The intention was to bolster morale as well as get page hits.
    My Sal has made her comment after coming from there filled with a sense of fun.
    
    The post above did get 9,000 hits to the campaign contact numbers, many fed through from Boggart Blog and just having links from my blogs will have boosted the campaign's visibility on Search Engines. So as satire is such a potent weapon, I'm sure you will forgive me and Sal our private joke.
    
    Best regards and thanks for your comment,
    Ian Thorpe
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- loiswakeman
- http://lois.co.uk
- 2008-01-04 @ 16:38:07
They are certainly cutting down the staff at donor sessions: even with an appointment, I have to wait about half an hour to be seen.
- - ianrthorpe
  - 2008-01-05 @ 15:03:49
  And I hear they've cut back on the biscuits too. Aldi own brand Rich Tea instead of Hob Nobs?
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