Customer satisfaction survey

Why this survey is important

The survey gives us feedback from transfusion laboratory managers, which means we can focus improvement initiatives where they are needed most. The survey is held twice a year and we ask the managers to comment on our services for the previous six months. During this time, some RCI services were reprovisioned, the reprovisioning of Hospital Services at our Southampton centre continued due to the partial closure of the centre, and there were continuing Pre-Amber and Amber alerts on some blood components. 

The survey is managed by the Hospital Customer Services team. 

Results of the survey

Summarised below are the lab managers' comments about our supply and delivery of blood components, and the Red Cell Immunohaematology (RCI) testing service. For detailed information, please refer to the report and infographic below.

The supply of blood components

• Lab managers praised Hospital Services staff for their politeness, professionalism, supportive attitude, and communication
• Some said the supply of blood components was reliable and efficient, despite the national shortages
• Some commented they had seen a notable reduction in blood packs with creased or misaligned barcodes

The improvements we've made include:

• Reducing the number of hospital complaints about creased labels, by ensuring Hospital Services staff inspect unit labels for damage or misalignment
• Reducing the number of hospital complaints about order reconciliations, by weighing components when we issue them

The delivery of blood components

• The lab managers said our drivers are friendly, helpful, and polite
• Some reported issues with incorrect location deliveries
• Some commented transport containers are not always collected
• There was increased satisfaction with ad-hoc and emergency deliveries 

The improvements we've made include:

• Including What3Words in hospital delivery instructions which give more precise locations
• Reducing the number of deliveries to incorrect locations as a result of revising the courier contract

Red Cell Immunohaematology (RCI) testing

• Lab managers liked the team's professionalism, helpfulness, and communication
• They also liked RCI Assist and electronic reporting
• Some commented they wanted turnaround times to be quicker

We are working to deliver improvements by: 

• Continuing to develop and expand electronic requesting and reporting
• Recruiting staff to increase capacity and reduce turnaround times
• Piloting recording telephone calls to ensure recording improves customer service and experience 

Report and infographic 

• Read the full report (PDF 1052KB)
• View an infographic summarising the report (PDF 97KB)

Text version of the infographic for screen readers

Infographic summarising the autumn 2025 customer satisfaction survey scores for the provision of NHS Blood and Transplant services. The survey was conducted by Hospital Customer Services between 9 and 27 September 2025.

The following information gives the average scores for each service metric that was surveyed.

NHSBT overall average score 9.0 out of 10.

Category: Component Fulfilment, overall average score 9.2 out of 10. OBOS and Ordering Process 9.4 out of 10. Component Availability 8.9 out of 10. Hospital Services 9.3 out of 10. Range, Specification and Quality of blood components 9.3 out of 10.

Category: Delivery Services, average score 9.0 out of 10. NHSBT drivers 9.3 out of 10. Courier drivers 8.5 out of 10. Routine deliveries 8.9 out of 10. Ad-hoc deliveries 8.9 out of 10. Emergency deliveries 9.3 out of 10.

Category: Diagnostic Services, overall average score 8.6 out of 10. Overall service provided by RCI 8.4 out of 10. RCI Turnaround times 8.3 out of 10. RCI reports 8.7 out of 10. RCI Referral process 8.6 out of 10. Service provided by Molecular Diagnostics 8.6 out of 10. Service provided by Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics 9.0 out of 10.

Category: Customer Support, overall score 9.2 out of 10. Customer service support 9.3 out of 10. Service provided by Blood Stocks Management Scheme 9.2 out of 10. Clinical Support 9.3 out of 10. Easy to do business with NHSBT 9.1 out of 10.

Page last reviewed: 30 December 2025