Last night was my first fix of the year, the first evening spent waiting for my donation to be taken by a small group of dedicated phlebotomists all of whom deserve medals. However their hard work is not something ever seen on the stage or the TV, they don’t work for a political organisation or even a charity and I suspect that none of them have the resources to donate large sums to a political party. Last night 7 of them carried on working to achieve the same sort of workload that 9 would usually do. It meant delays and frustration for those of us who give blood, but their cheerfulness and resilience was a real example of how important and special our public services are. Apparently last week the same team had to work with 3 colleagues off sick, so 6 people carrying out the work of 9 people! I was one the last to leave the building, along with a friend who I meet every 3 months. As we left the building at 9.15pm the phlebotomists were preparing to clear up after our donations had been collected, stacking chairs, and getting items ready to be loaded into the lorry, whilst outside the rain was beating down in the car park. The last phlebotomist I spoke to disclosed some of the motivations that they have, and I guess that motivates some of us to give our ‘armful’ every 3 months. Just before Christmas one of this ladies friends was unwell and turned white (or grey apparently), yet 2 pints of blood along with the rest of the care the person received, transformed her pallor and saved her life. These phlebotomists could probably have legitimately turned some of us away, there is an argument to suggest that if some of us had known we would be on site for nearly 2 hours, that we might have done a U turn ourselves. However two less pints of blood, could be enough to change the outcome for someone like the person whose story was relayed to us.