Working in Partnership

Our remit includes raising awareness of donation and encouraging people to give blood and join the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR). We work with a number of partners in the private, public and third sectors to reach our target audiences through their staff, customer and public networks. In 2010 our Partnership Development and Stakeholder Relations team continued to initiate and develop relationships with organisations that share our aims to increase donation rates in the UK.

DVLA
In 2010 over 78% of all new registrants to the ODR came through tick box schemes carried out by our partners. The DVLA was the single largest contributor, delivering 53% of the 1.2 million registrations to the ODR. We will pilot a system of 'prompted choice' on organ donor registration for the DVLA online application form used for licence renewal and application. This will ask applicants to state whether or not they wish to become an organ donor as part of their online registration process.

Royal Mail
In 2010 we agreed a three-year partnership with Royal Mail, which will see the organisation promote the importance of blood, tissue and organ donation to all their staff. Royal Mail is also investigating other ways to promote donation to its customers.

Newham Borough Council
We have been working with Newham Borough Council (NBC) since 2010. NBC is a borough with one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the country. And we've been working with them to promote donation to their staff and residents by attending fairs and exhibitions, such as the Mayor's Show. NBC has also published features on organ donation in their internal magazine and will incorporate donation awareness training into their volunteer programme - ensuring they have a trained group of local donation ambassadors in the future. We've worked well together with NBC over the past year and helped to increased ODR registrations in Newham by 332%.

Boots
Boots UK provides a unique high-street opportunity for people to join the ODR. What's more, anyone applying for a Boots Advantage Card can also join via a tick-box on the application form. Over 1.3 million customers have joined the register since the scheme started in 2000. Boots UK also regularly supports the drive for more blood and organ donors through in-store and online activity in support of our campaigns.

European Blood Alliance
The European Blood Alliance (EBA) plays a significant role in defining quality standards across Europe and maintains high performance and safety in blood supplies. We are one of 28 members of the EBA community from scientific, clinical and other specialist backgrounds who meet regularly to share knowledge and best practice around collecting, processing, testing and supplying blood for patient treatment.

In March 2011 the EBA held its twenty-eighth board meeting at Filton Blood Centre in Bristol. The event helped share best practice and identify new technologies and developments that benefit NHSBT, other blood services and the patients and donors we serve.

Stakeholder audit
In 2010 we carried out our first stakeholder audit which aimed to establish how effective we are in working with and engaging key interest groups. The results showed that overall stakeholders have a positive perception of NHSBT and the work we do, with 91% saying they understood very well or quite well what our role is, and 81% telling us we engage very well or fairly well with them.

We believe that effective engagement and partnership working with external stakeholders is crucial to ensuring we deliver our strategy and make best use of resources. Over the next three years we aim to improve how we work with stakeholders by being more proactive. We will monitor our success by repeating our stakeholder audit on an annual basis.

Stakeholder e-newsletter
The Stakeholder e-newsletter was launched in 2010. It is distributed to key stakeholders and individuals interested in the field of blood, organ and stem cell donation, such as charities and partners. The quarterly newsletter keeps our stakeholders up-to-date with our news and our work to improve the donor experience and promote blood and organ donation while working as efficiently as possible.

To view the current e-newsletter: http://nhsbt-newsletter.co.uk/EIL-HWBD-9F2IB45H50/cr.aspx
To subscribe: http://nhsbt-newsletter.co.uk/nhs/EIL-6J9-141S8SQI4B/getnewsletter.aspx