to four times a year. In 2013-14 1,986 people complained they had been turned away from walk-in sessions. 1,949 said they did not have their blood taken even when they had made an appointment. Besides the main blood donations, known as "whole blood", platelets are also collected. As platelets can only be stored for a few days, regular and frequent donors are in great demand and that is why platelet donors are asked to attend at least 8 – 10 times per year. Organ Donation and Transplantation Organ Donation and Transplantation ensures that organs donated for transplant are matched and allocated to patients in a fair and unbiased way. Matching, particularly in the case of kidneys, is so important that donation and allocation needs to be organised nationally. The larger the pool of organs, the better the likelihood there is of a good match. Unlike some other NHS organisations, it does not have a direct relationship with patients and do not provide "hands on" care. However, in providing support to transplantation services across England, everything it does affects the quality of service delivered to individual patients. In the 1968 National Tissue Typing and Reference Laboratory was established at Southmead Hospital in Bristol. The National Organ Matching and Distribution Service was founded in 1972 and the two organisations merged in 1979 to form the UK Transplant Service. In 1991 the UK Transplant Service became an NHS special health authority and was renamed the United Kingdom Transplant Support Service Authority. It moved to purpose-built accommodation at Stoke Gifford, in the northern suburbs of Bristol, in 1993. In July 2000, UK Transplant was formed with a new, extended remit to increase organ donation rates. In October 2005 UK Transplant merged with the National Blood Service and the Bio Products Laboratory to form NHS Blood and Transplant. In 2010, the Bio Products Laboratory became a limited company owned directly by the Department of Health. The Department of Health partly privatised it in 2013, selling a significant majority stake to Bain Capital. The business benefited from investment and growth, enabling full privatisation, achieved when a group controlled by Creat Group Corporation acquired it in 2016. NHS Organ Donor Register The NHS Organ Donor Register is a national, confidential list of people who are willing to become donors after their death. It can be quickly accessed to see whether an individual has registered a willingness to