Why can’t I give blood?

I read about the national shortage of blood last week with a feeling of gloomy inevitability. The brains of the nation are scrambled, Westminster’s insane, of course the country’s bleeding out. But at least, I thought, I can help a bit. I’ve given blood in the past and I enjoy it. There’s the feeling of warmth and purpose, and biscuits. I’d never fork out for a packet of custard creams, but like most English women and men I’m a sucker for one or two free on a saucer in a medical setting.

Our blood donor scheme is actually all-round cheery. Each country has its own circulatory system, a flow out from the veins of donors, off to hospitals and into patients. Some countries have to resort to paying donors for blood, and the inevitable result is a contaminated supply. Addicts, desperate for cash, lie about their blood-borne diseases. There’s almost no way to screen them out. So the best systems in the world rely on unpaid donors, willing to give without knowing where their blood will go. There’s no call here, yet, for a scheme that allows you to ensure your blood isn’t used to revive a Tory – that’s heartening too.

So I went to the NHS website feeling almost upbeat. I found the link marked ‘Give Blood’, and clicked: ‘Oops! Something’s gone wrong.’ I should have sensed what would come next. I know that ‘Oops!’. It’s a regular and loathsome feature of all government sites. It implies just a cheeky little anomaly, nothing to fret about. But a broken link when you’re trying to pay a bill or sort out your housing or help alleviate a national blood shortage isn’t lovable or roguish.

‘Try again later,’ said the site, so I did repeatedly, dementedly, until on the 27th attempt I got through to a list of possible donation sites.