Since the first of September this year, blood donors at Sahlgrenska University Hospital no longer receive any gift in connection with their donation of blood. On a sign at the reception you can read:
" It is part of the blood donation work to review the organization and what the gifts cost for the hospital. "
Jakob Kilner has donated blood for 20 years and it is the savings requirements that mean that he and many others will no longer receive gifts as blood donors in Gothenburg. The gifts cost the hospital SEK 1.5 million per year.
- It is a solid act because you are a fellow human being. That's why it feels so incredibly poor that they can't offer the little, little thing. A gift that doesn't even host the tram ticket back and forth to blood donation, he says.
A fellow human beingAccording to hospital management, blood donor gifts are a major expense for the hospital.
- We have discussed this with the gifts and it is a large amount of money for us but for the individual it may be of less importance, says Jan Holgersson, Head of Operations at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.
- There are certainly blood donors who will be disappointed that the gifts are removed, but we have still made the assessment that most donate to help a fellow human being, he says.
Feel appreciationAre these gifts really needed, is it not enough to feel that you have done something good?
- Yeah absolutely. I think people do. But why are there always these gestures for those who do something good to save on? Just because you can remove something doesn't mean you have to remove something.
Why is the gift so important to you?
- It's not that I so badly want this little dish. It's about feeling that you get appreciation for something you do, he says.