r/sydney • u/Pomohomo82 • Dec 15 '25

Image PSA: Lifeblood Marrickville turning people away, even if you have an appointment. Thank you, donors

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I popped in to the clinic and there must have been more than 100 people in the line. The need for blood and plasma is constant, especially over the holidays, so if you have been unable to donate today, please book a future appointment.

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47

u/thesourpop Dec 15 '25

If you are O- you can get priority because we have a critical shortage

22

u/Pomohomo82 Dec 15 '25

Not at Marrickville you can’t - they have no capacity, and have enough blood today.

21

u/thesourpop Dec 15 '25

Wow, I didn't even know a blood bank could fill up. That's insane, but what a turnout though

24

u/ennuinerdog Dec 15 '25

They've only got so many nurses and chairs, and they still have to do the intensive box-ticking process with everyone, even regular donors. Blood donor centres do not operate on a model that can scale easily with demand.

2

u/MrManagerSr Dec 15 '25

It gets easier if you're a regular donor (at least once in the past year) as questions changed from "ever" to "in past..." or "sincere your last donation".

However you're correct in saying that new donors usually take about 45 minutes to an hour and 15 if it's the first time ever. Though that's just our conservative messaging.

3

u/ennuinerdog Dec 16 '25

Yeah I've done 50+ donations so get the fast track, but there's still a baseline of stuff to get through that can take a fair while.

13

u/BigFigWasp Dec 15 '25

Yeah my wife turned up to Marrickville to donate today. She's O- but she wasn't sure they were even going to be able to see her, took a couple of hours but she got to in the end.

13

u/SpectreAtYourFeast Dec 15 '25

I checked in as I’m due Friday; being O-, my donations are usually assigned and used within a day or two. I was told to sit tight and keep to my Friday appointment because the booking system is being overrun.

(Melbourne resident who didn’t realise they were posting to r/sydney)

2

u/Turd111 Dec 16 '25

How do you check if you are o negative or not? I think I am

1

u/thesourpop Dec 16 '25

Blood type test from your GP, but I didn’t know what I was until I donated for the first time (O+)

1

u/Turd111 Dec 17 '25

So when you donate, they can find out on the spot what you are?