Blood donors complain about treatment

Members of the public who went to the Blood Bank to donate blood on Monday complained bitterly yesterday that they were ill-treated by staff there.

One donor told Newsday that the staff on duty were rude to donors and at 11.45 am, the staff went on their lunch break leaving scores of persons waiting for service. When they returned from lunch around 1.30 pm, persons who had been waiting since 8 am to have their blood drawn were told to return the next day. Donors told Newsday that the staff at the Blood Bank seemed unconcerned that people had taken time off from their jobs to donate blood and they believed that they were treated inhumanely. They claimed that some donors who were in perfectly good health on their arrival at the facility became nervous and enraged because of the attitude of staff and their pressures went up. They were told to return in one week. The Blood Bank is under the supervision of the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.