This inspection looked at the services provided from the Blood Donor Centre based in the grounds of Derriford Hospital on 10 Februiary 2014 and one mobile blood donor session in the community on 13 February 2014, to ensure that processes for people who were donating blood (referred to as donors) was safe.

We spoke with 13 donors, six donor carers, three qualified nurses and other senior management staff including staff from the service quality monitoring department.

We found that donors consented to donate and were well informed about the process being undertaken. They told us that they were always treated with respect and three donors told us that they looked forward to their donor sessions.

We saw that emergency procedures were in place for use should a donor feel unwell. Donors told us they were provided with sufficient post-donation information to know what to do if they felt unwell.

There were standard operating procedures and infection control procedures in place to ensure that recipients of whole blood and blood component products were not placed at risk of receiving unsafe products.

The centre was staffed by donor carers and qualified nurses who were well trained and supported to do their jobs.

NHS Blood and Transplant monitored the quality and safety of the service and used donor feedback to makes changes to the service if needed.