Donor care
You won’t find a higher purpose than this.
There are thousands of people who donate their blood, organs, tissues or stem cells to help us save and improve lives, and thousands more who work in our donor care teams to help those donations safely reach the people who need them most.
You might look after our blood donors and guide them through the donation process, or you might provide vital support to make organ transplants possible. Whatever your role, it’s your chance to make a difference to thousands of lives, across communities and families, relatives and friends.
Video: Healthcare Assistant careers at NHS Blood and Transplant
Find out about the incredible work our Healthcare Assistants do.
Video transcript
Sarah: Hi, my name’s Sarah and I'm a Healthcare Assistant at NHS Blood and Transplant.
[To a donor] Hello.
Donor: Hi!
Sarah: We call our Healthcare Assistants Donor Carers because it perfectly describes what we do.
We take extra special care of our fantastic donors, making sure that the blood or blood products they donate are safe to use.
This is one of our donor centres, but some teams also go out into the community on mobile sessions.
Every working day starts by making sure the floor is set up for a donation session and having our team briefing. This means we're always ready to welcome our donors.
What I really like about working here is being part of a team that saves and improves lives every day.
[To a Healthcare Assistant colleague] You like it?
Healthcare Assistant: Yes, I like it.
Sarah: Good! [both laughing]
We're responsible for taking care of a donor from the moment they walk in the door to the moment they leave.
I always enjoy meeting our donors. You get to speak to so many different types of people, and chatting to them and putting them at ease is a big part of our job.
We start by running through some questions with our donors to make sure it's safe for them to donate. There are some sensitive questions about lifestyle, so tact and diplomacy is important in discussing their personal information.
We then do a finger prick test with them. If the donor is okay to donate, we get everything ready for their donation.
First, I will prep the arm, then the needle is inserted and secured.
You will then fill the sample tubes and ensure the donor is comfortable before leaving them to continue with their donation.
Sometimes people might feel faint or sick, so we need to act quickly if they become unwell. But we always have registered nurses on session to offer help if you need it.
This wonderful, life-giving blood is warm. Some people find that surprising, but know that it's off to save a life.
When I first saw the role advertised, I thought, I'm never going to be able to do that. But now I'm really proud of the work I do every day.
It takes all types of people to work in our frontline service and play their part in saving and improving lives.
When you start, you have 6 weeks training. But even after that, you are never on your own. There are always people working with you on session and the team are really supportive.
I'm now trained in things I never thought I would be. I can perform venepuncture and I know how to take safe donations.
Your Healthcare Assistant career starts at a band 3, and you're really hands-on and you never have to worry about night shifts.
There are lots of training and development opportunities for you to progress to. You can even do your driver training to drive the team bus on the mobile sessions.
Working at NHSBT means being part of a very special team, being around people that you can communicate openly and comfortably with, without fear of judgment, with whom you can rely on during stressful situations.
Together, we create a supportive, caring environment where we share lighter moments and laughter that helps to make even the most challenging of shifts enjoyable.
Getting to know donors is one of the most rewarding aspects of the job. Each one has their own unique story and learning about their motivations and experiences is fascinating.
The reason I became a donor career was because I was first a donor. The atmosphere was always so warm and welcoming that I thought, maybe I could do this.
Donor: Really?
Sarah: Yeah!
I'm very happy I sent in that application as it's a real privilege to now be working within that very special team.
If you want to join an organisation that has really positive and inclusive culture, and directly contribute to the saving and improving of patient lives, then go ahead and apply.
Healthcare assistants
Our healthcare assistants play a role you won’t find anywhere else – looking after our donors when they visit us to donate blood, blood products or plasma.
They’re at the centre of donor care, supporting our donors through every step of the process. This includes:
- assessing their ability to donate
- taking their blood donations
- looking after their wellbeing while they’re with us
It's highly rewarding and important work as part of an amazing team.
What do you need to join as a healthcare assistant?
You don’t need any specific healthcare qualifications to join us, just experience of working with people and a passion for delivering great customer service.
But you will need to be comfortable looking at blood and handling blood bags and needles. As part of your role, you’ll be trained in venepuncture, which is inserting a needle in a donor's arm to take blood.
Where do healthcare assistants work?
Healthcare assistants can be based either in fixed blood and plasma donor centres across the country, or as part of mobile blood donation teams who travel to different locations each day.
After training, the mobile teams also drive our vans and minibuses, as well as loading, unloading and assembling mobile donation session equipment.
Whichever type of team you join, you will be given full training in your first few weeks to prepare you to carry out your role confidently and safely.
Donor care specialisms
"I find the role rewarding and I get a lot of job satisfaction. I would recommend NHSBT to anyone. It is ideal if you enjoy helping people."Paul, Donor Care Supervisor
Find out more about roles in donor care
As well as our healthcare assistants, we have a range of other roles that support donations.
Nursing
Whether you join as a blood donation nurse or as a specialist in organ or tissue donation, you’ll support our patients, donors and their families throughout the process and make a difference to their experience.
Support office
We have a number of behind the scenes roles that keep the donations process running, whether that’s welcoming donors, looking after donor records or maintaining important data for our donation sessions.