New Zealand Blood Service needs new donors in Waikato as scheduled donors cancel

New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) is in need of new donors after noticing increasing no-shows and low bookings for appointments. Photo / NZ Police

New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) is calling for healthy eligible donors in the Waikato to roll up their sleeves and help meet an urgent demand for blood and blood products after Omicron caused appointment gaps.

Across the Waikato, NZBS needs more than 1700 donations for the remainder of March to meet current demand. Nationally, NZBS needs to collect more than 4000 donations every week to be able to meet demand.

However, over the next three weeks, only 67 per cent of appointment slots are currently filled due to the Omicron outbreak and the service is seeing an increasing number of no-shows.

NZBS national marketing and communications manager Asuka Burge says about 30 per cent of appointments booked to donate blood and plasma were cancelled this month across the Waikato region which makes it difficult to accurately forecast collections rates and meet targets.

"We need healthy, eligible donors in the Waikato region to book an appointment to donate to help us ensure we can continue to have enough supply to meet demand. We also need people who cannot attend a scheduled appointment to either reschedule or cancel the appointment, in order to free up slots for other people who can donate."

Donors are asked to book an appointment to donate, rather than just turning up, because appointments help manage the social distancing and flow of people in donor centres and allow NZBS to forecast supply, ensuring it is collecting enough blood types and blood products.

To find out if you are eligible click here.

There are several ways to book an appointment to donate, including visiting nzblood.co.nz and calling 0800 448 325. You can also sign up to Facebook's Blood Donation tool to receive notifications about opportunities to donate blood near you.

Hamilton has a donor centre at Gate 1, Waikato Hospital, 21 Ohaupo Road, but NZBS is also holding several mobile blood drives across the Waikato this month.

• In Hamilton at Sky Point Building, Ruakura Room, 3 Melody Lane, on March 18 from 8.30am to 1.30pm

• At Taupo Great Lakes Centre, 5 Story Place, on March 22 from 1pm to 6pm, on March 23 from noon to 6pm and on March 24, 7.30am to 1pm

• In New Plymouth at St Andrews Presbyterian Church, 72 Liardet St, on March 23 from 7.30am to 1pm, on March 24 from 1pm to 7pm and on March 25 from 7am to noon

• At Cambridge Town Hall, 87 Lake Road, on March 28 from 1pm to 7pm and on March 29, from 7.30am to 1pm

• In Tokoroa at St John Ambulance Hall, Logan St, on March 30, from 9am to 1pm

• And in Putaruru at St John Ambulance Hall, Overdale St, on March 31, from 9am to 1pm