Register your interest in hosting blood donation sessions

If you are interested in providing an area in your hospital to use for a blood donation session, and it meets the minimum requirements, please let us know so we can then organise for an assessment to be completed by an NHSBT-trained venue assessor. 

The assessor will check your venue complies the relevant legal standards, including Blood Safety and Quality Regulations (BSQR), Manual Handling Regulations, that it is safe, accessible for staff, donors, and visitors, and has space for setting up a session and unloading equipment safely.

The minimum venue requirements are:

• a room size of approximately 20m x 10m (200 sqm)
• ground floor access, or lift access if on an upper level (the lift must support a minimum load of 265kg)
• vehicle access: space to accommodate a 7.5-tonne lorry, requiring gateways at least 3.65m (12ft) wide and clearance for 3.35m (11ft) height
• corridors at least 105cm wide and doorways at least 75cm wide to allow safe movement of equipment cages
• room access: venues must be available for approximately 9 hours, typically between 9am to 6pm or 12pm to 9pm, to cover the full session set-up and close-down

If the venue meets the minimum requirements, please email venue.developmentteam@nhsbt.nhs.uk, including details of the venue and a contact.  A member of our team will be in touch to discuss the next steps.

Currently we plan our blood donation programme around 20 weeks in advance. This ensures we make as many appointments available for donors as possible.

In the meantime, if you have colleagues who want to donate blood, the best way that they can do this is to visit one of our 27 donor centres across England, or one of our mobile teams who visit many communities. Please ask them to visit blood.co.uk to find their nearest location and book an appointment to donate. 

Thank you again for your continued support.

Darren Bowen - Assistant Director, NHSBT Supply Chain