Reduced Waiting Times for Blood Donors

The Challenge

Leading Edge Group was engaged to review this client’s clinic operations with the aim of reducing waiting times for blood donors. The study was performed at six clinic locations processing some 150,000 donations annually.

The client’s donors were extremely satisfied with the interpersonal relationships between them and clinic staff during the donation process but were unhappy with the waiting times during clinic visits. We found that one hour was the maximum time that the donors were happy to wait to donate blood. The clinics therefore wanted to deliver a professional service that allowed the donor to pass through the process in less than one hour.

The aim of the project was to apply Lean tools and philosophies to reduce the waiting times of donors, thereby increasing the value delivered to customers and encouraging them to donate more regularly.

The Solution

• Data collection forms were created and given to donors upon arrival at the clinic and they kept these forms with them as they progressed through the donation process.
• A satisfaction survey was generated to gather feedback and comments from donors.
• We analyzed the process in detail to see how it could be improved in the future. We spoke to everyone from drivers, clerks, donor assistants, doctors, nurses, team leaders and area organizers to identify where improvements could be made. We outlined the human and technical resources required to achieve the goals set out.

The Results

The structural layouts and operational practices within both the mobile and fixed clinics re-engineered to accommodate the rise in demand for blood donations and waiting times were reduced.