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Bloods by Edd

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Bloods by Edd

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Edd is known as the ‘King of the Phlebotomists’. He is now the official phlebotomist to the England Women’s Football team.

An army-trained medic with over 10 years experience, he manages a UK-wide team of 200+ phlebotomists and has trained hundreds more.

08/10/2026

🎂 Grace turned 17 recently, which feels slightly ridiculous because I’m fairly sure she was about six last week.
It’s been quite a busy couple of weeks for her already. GCSE results, Gold Duke of Edinburgh, starting college, spending more time staying with Auntie Marie, and now suddenly she’s 17 and having her first driving lesson.
I’d deliberately refused to book any proper work that day because some things take precedence, although apparently my definition of “day off” still includes taking four lots of blood. 😂
One was somebody I’d seen before who struggles to get to their GP surgery, so I went out and did her ordinary NHS blood test at home and then dropped the sample off for her. Weirdly, I think I may actually have delivered newspapers to the same house when I was a kid. She’s lived there for about 40 years, and I definitely delivered papers on that road, so there’s a reasonable chance I’ve now provided two completely different services to the same house about 25 years apart. 😂
Another gentleman was so pleased with the service that he said he needs his bloods repeating every three months and he’ll just book me again next time, which is exactly the sort of thing you want to hear when you’re building a local clinic.
I also squeezed in a couple of point-of-care tests around everything else, picked Grace up from the station, made her sit and watch me donate blood (she didn’t love that bit), got her to her first driving lesson and went out for dinner.
And that’s one of the things I really love about phlebotomy.
Those few blood draws barely felt like the “work” part of my day. They just fitted around everything else I needed to do.
If you’re self-employed and you can build up the right mix of clients, it can be an incredibly flexible skill to have. You can do an appointment, go and sort your family out, do another appointment later, and somehow a decent bit of work has happened around the edges of your actual life.
I did also try to persuade Grace that now she was 17 she could celebrate by donating blood with me.
She declined. 😂
Probably sensible considering she had her first driving lesson later that day.

07/10/2026

🩸 I sometimes wonder what happened to all the people I’ve trained over the years.
Every so often I get a really nice answer.
Someone will message me six months later and tell me they’ve got a job in a clinic. Someone else will come back for another course. Occasionally somebody I trained ends up applying to become one of our mobile phlebotomists at Bloods & Beyond, which I particularly love because I know exactly what training they had in the first place. 😂
But there must be hundreds of people where I simply never find out.
I’m under absolutely no illusion that everybody who comes on one of my phlebotomy courses goes away and becomes a phlebotomist. Some will. Some might use the skills alongside another healthcare role. Some will decide it isn’t for them at all. Some probably had a really nice weekend, learned something interesting, met a few people and then carried on with a completely different life.
And actually, that’s fine.
One of the things I like about courses like phlebotomy is that you can try something without having to completely reorganise your life first. You don’t have to sign up for a three-year degree and discover at the end that you hate it. You can take that first step, see how it feels, and then decide where the journey goes next.
I say something similar at the beginning of courses. Everybody in the room has arrived at the same place for those couple of days, but they’ll all leave and go in completely different directions. One might be working as a phlebotomist within months. Another might take years. Another might never do it professionally at all.
I can give people that first little push and hopefully teach them something useful, but after that it becomes their story.
Still, I do wonder occasionally.
So if I’ve ever trained you and you happen to see this, let me know what you ended up doing. I’d genuinely love to know. 🙂🩸

07/10/2026

❤️ There’s one bit of feedback from a training course that I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
Years ago I was delivering a series of Basic Life Support courses at a new private hospital in Birmingham. Most of the learners were GPs from the local area, but occasionally the hospital would fill spare spaces with members of their own staff.
One month, one of their receptionists joined the course.
She hadn’t really done anything like it before, whereas some of the GPs had obviously completed BLS training countless times, so I spent a bit of extra time with her making sure she was comfortable with what she needed to do.
I came back the following month to run another course and she made a point of finding me. She was visibly emotional and said she was really glad she’d been working that day because she desperately wanted to thank me.
The previous weekend, her mum had gone into cardiac arrest.
She told me that while she was doing CPR, she could actually picture me in her head going through what I’d taught her on the course.
And her mum survived.
I still get goosebumps thinking about that.
I’ve never personally had the dramatic CPR story that lots of first aid trainers have. I’ve never been walking through a shopping centre when somebody collapsed in front of me and I heroically brought them back. And if I’m completely honest, I’m quite happy for things to stay that way.
Because CPR doesn’t always have the happy ending people see on television. If I ever do need to use it for real, there’s a decent chance that story won’t end with everyone cheering.
So when I teach BLS, I always say that I hope the entire course turns out to be a complete waste of your time. I hope you learn it, remember it, refresh it regularly… and never once need to use it.
But if you do need it, you’ll be very glad you learned.
That receptionist gave me something even better than my own hero story. I wasn’t there. I didn’t do the CPR. I taught somebody else to do it, and when the moment came, she knew what to do.
That’s probably one of the proudest moments I’ve ever had as a trainer. ❤️

06/10/2026

🩸👶 One of the slightly strange facts I’ve learned about myself through donating blood is that I’m CMV negative, which means my blood can be particularly useful for certain patients, including babies.
CMV is a really common virus and lots of adults have been exposed to it at some point, often without even knowing. Somehow, despite the fact that I really haven’t lived what you’d call a particularly sheltered life 😂, I appear to have completely avoided it. Every time they remind me I’m CMV negative I’m slightly surprised, because statistically I feel like I should have collected most things going by now.
But it does mean that when I donate, there’s a chance that donation can be used for some of the smallest and most vulnerable patients, and I absolutely love that thought.
I’m a massive advocate for blood donation anyway, but I think sometimes people almost downplay what they’re doing. You go in, sit in a chair for a bit, have a drink and a biscuit afterwards, then carry on with your day. It doesn’t necessarily feel like some enormous heroic act.
But somewhere down the line, somebody may genuinely be alive because you gave up an hour and donated blood.
That’s bloody amazing.
I’ve always been a sucker for that feeling of actually helping somebody. The rare occasions in my life where I know something I’ve done has made a genuinely significant difference have stuck with me for years, and donating blood is one of the easiest ways most healthy people can do something that really can matter.
No special skills needed. No dramatic heroics. Just turn up, roll your sleeve up and let somebody nick a bit of it. 😂❤️

06/10/2026

🩸 I donated blood again recently, and it reminded me of one of the bits of advice I give to people who have finished a phlebotomy course and are asking the inevitable question: “How do I get experience if nobody will give me a job without experience?”
It’s a fair question, because that catch-22 is real. You need experience to get the job, but you need the job to get experience. So I always tell people to think a bit more creatively about where they can learn and where they can put themselves in the right environment.
If you’ve got a blood test coming up, watch what the phlebotomist does. Once you’ve done a course, you suddenly notice things you probably wouldn’t have paid any attention to before. How they prepare, how they identify you, what equipment they use, how they talk to you, what they do afterwards. If you haven’t got a blood test coming up any time soon, go and donate blood instead.
It’s not exactly the same as routine venepuncture, obviously, but it still gives you a chance to see a clinical process happening properly, and while I was there this time I actually asked whether there were opportunities for people to get involved. They told me there are volunteering routes, which is really useful because trainees ask me all the time where they can get experience and I don’t always have a good answer for them.
There are also jobs within the blood service where you don’t necessarily need to turn up already knowing how to do everything. I’ve spoken to staff before who came from care backgrounds and were trained on the job. You can start in one role, learn the systems, develop confidence and work your way into more clinical tasks. So when people tell me there are “no jobs” for new phlebotomists, I always push back a little bit. There are routes in. They’re not always obvious, and they’re not always the glamorous perfect job you imagined on day one, but they exist.
And if two people apply for the same entry-level job and one of them has already gone out of their way to do a phlebotomy course because they genuinely want to work in that field, that gives them something useful to talk about at interview. It shows intent.
Worst-case scenario, you donate blood, you don’t get a job out of it, and you’ve still done something useful that could help save somebody’s life. There are worse ways to spend an hour. ❤️🩸

01/10/2026

🎖️ 15 years.
I recently received the 15-year clasp for my Volunteer Reserves Service Medal, and I’m genuinely very proud of this one.
It isn’t a VC. It isn’t some dramatic medal for charging heroically over a hill. 😂 It’s essentially recognition for sticking around for a very long time.
But actually, that means quite a lot to me.
When I first joined the Army Reserve, (or TA as it was back then)I had absolutely no military background. Nobody in my family was military. I’d barely even spoken to soldiers before and, if I’m honest, I assumed they were probably all enormous, terrifying blokes who would shout at me. 😂
What I actually found was a bunch of people who took me under their wing and wanted me to succeed.
Over those 15 years, the Army has given me an absolutely ridiculous amount of training.
I’ve learned to drive trucks, buses, trailers and rough-terrain forklifts. I’ve trained as a chef. I’ve done instructor training. I’ve become a better trainer because of what the Army taught me about engaging different types of learners. I’ve travelled, been pushed well outside my comfort zone and discovered that I’m capable of doing far more than I ever thought I was.
I even turned out to be a half-decent shot. 😂
I’m still not sure I have a single military bone in my body, but perhaps that’s part of the point.
You don’t necessarily have to arrive as the finished product.
Sometimes you just need somebody to throw you in at the deep end and show you that you can swim.
And if you’re thinking about healthcare or phlebotomy in particular, there are medical roles in the Reserves too. The Army is very good at giving people opportunities to learn, practise and actually use skills.
Of course, none of it happens in isolation.
Every two-week camp, every weekend away, every late Tuesday night and every trip means Angie is at home keeping everything else moving. The kids have grown up with Dad disappearing periodically in camouflage. 😂 So this milestone belongs partly to them too.
Fifteen years is a long time.
I’ve seen people come and go, units change, uniforms change and even our berets change colour.
At a regimental dinner once, someone asked everyone to stay standing if they could remember when we still wore khaki berets.
There were about three of us left standing. 😂
That was a slightly alarming moment.
But I’m proud to still be here.
And if there’s one thing the Army has taught me, it’s this:
You’re probably capable of a lot more than you think you are. 💪

01/10/2026

I spent a day recently delivering IT training at East Riding Sacks, and it reminded me of one of the things I absolutely love about the work I do.
You get a little glimpse into industries that you’d otherwise never really think about.
When I was a kid, I used to love those little TV segments that showed how things were made. How rope was made, how something went through a production line, how a completely ordinary object actually came into existence. I still find that stuff fascinating now.
Because, of course, sacks don’t just magically appear. 😂 I imagine a little old lady with a ball of twine in front of fire, knitting them all together. But there are factories, machines, logistics teams, sales teams, warehouses, HGVs, customers, product development… and people who have built entire careers around making them.
And what I love most is how passionate people are about it.
They’ll be showing me a new material or a new design and talking about it like it’s the most important thing in the world – because to them, it is. And I genuinely love that. ❤️
It probably makes me realise how I must sound when I start talking about phlebotomy. 😂
“What do you mean you didn’t know mobile phlebotomists existed?! This is incredibly important stuff!”
But that’s the point.
We all live inside our own little worlds, and sometimes we forget just how many other worlds are operating quietly around us.
The flour on the supermarket shelf has a farmer behind it. A mill behind it. A packaging company behind it. A logistics operation behind it. Then the supermarket itself.
Even a simple blood test has laboratories, couriers, clinicians, phlebotomists, booking systems, admin teams and goodness knows what else working quietly behind the scenes.
Everything man-made was made by somebody.
And somewhere out there is somebody who knows far more about sacks, boxes, socks, flour, needles or whatever else than you ever imagined there was to know.
I think that’s brilliant. 😂

Training

30/09/2026

❤️ Sometimes somebody doesn't need more qualifications. They just need somebody to give them a chance.
I had a learner on one of my courses this weekend who really made me think about this.
He's 26, originally from India, and currently working in a warehouse in the UK.
But before you make any assumptions from that job title...
He has two master's degrees in biomedical research and has already taken well over 1,000 blood samples in India. 💉
He certainly didn't come onto my course because I needed to teach him which end of a needle to use. 😂
He'd been struggling to get into healthcare work in the UK, so he'd paid for the training himself because he wanted a UK qualification on his CV. Something that might finally help him get a foot in the door.
We spent quite a lot of time together over the weekend, including effectively one-to-one training on the second day, and it very quickly became obvious that he knew exactly what he was doing.
In fact, while we were training, Bloods & Beyond had appointments coming through in his area that we were struggling to cover.
Angie's response was pretty straightforward:
"If he's that good and we need somebody there, offer him some work."
So we did. ❤️
Obviously he still has to complete all our usual due diligence before he can work independently for us, but we offered him the opportunity to join our network as a mobile phlebotomist.
His reaction genuinely got me.
He told me it was basically a dream come true and that his dad would be incredibly proud that he'd finally managed to get some medical work in the UK.
Now, I'm under no illusion that we've transformed his life overnight. Mobile appointments with us aren't going to replace a full-time salary. I've told him that.
But they can put some extra money in his pocket. More importantly, they give him UK healthcare experience to put on his CV and hopefully provide one more step towards the career he's actually qualified for.
This one is particularly personal for us because Angie went through exactly the same thing.
When she first came to the UK from Peru, she had qualifications, skills and years of experience - and couldn't get anybody to give her a job in her field.
She worked at McDonald's for two years and went back to Leicester College to complete a qualification below the level of qualifications she already held, simply because she needed something British on her CV to get through the door.
Seventeen years later, she's COO of Bloods & Beyond.
That's why we're very conscious of not confusing "doesn't have UK experience" with "doesn't have experience."
Those aren't the same thing.
And when it comes to phlebotomy, there is another fairly straightforward reality:
A vein in India is still a vein in England. 💉🌍
Standards matter. Competency matters. Governance matters. Everyone joining our network has to demonstrate those things regardless of where they trained.
But once somebody has demonstrated that they can do the job safely and competently, I'm interested in what they can do - not which country gave them their first opportunity to do it.
There is a huge amount of skill and experience sitting unused in this country because people simply can't get that first opportunity.
We can't fix all of that.
But every now and again, perhaps we can open one door. 🚪❤️

30/09/2026

🏨 I'm writing this one from yet another hotel room.
There's definitely a perception that running your own business gives you loads of freedom.
And it does.
It's just sometimes a slightly peculiar definition of freedom. 😂
The last couple of weeks have coincided with all the usual back-to-school chaos in our house. Two of the kids have gone back to (different!) schools, while Grace has started college, which has meant sorting equipment, train tickets, lifts, first days and everything else that goes with it.
She's also effectively moved out during the week and is staying with my sister so she can get to college more easily.
That's quite a big moment as a dad. ❤️
Meanwhile, I've been bouncing between training courses, blood appointments, the office, airports and hotels.
And it's not stopping yet.
Over the next few weeks I'm teaching all over the place, I've got my annual Army commitment for a couple of weeks, and then I'm back travelling again afterwards.
I worked it out and I'm probably going to spend about six days at home over five weeks. 😬
Angie has therefore informed me that we are currently a four-person family. 😂
Thankfully, she gets it.
We've actually spent our entire relationship like this. When we first got married, I flew back to England while Angie remained in Peru and we spent the first three months of married life on different continents.
So perhaps we had some fairly extreme preparation.
It isn't always ideal. There are things with the kids I'd like to be around for and, at the minute, Angie inevitably ends up picking up more of the family stuff while I'm away working.
But it's also the life we've built.
We had an incredible family holiday together in August. Now there's a ridiculously busy period of work. Eventually things will calm down again.
And weirdly, I don't actually hate the hotels.
Give me Wi-Fi, my laptop and nobody interrupting me and I can get an astonishing amount of work done. 😂💻
There's a balance somewhere in all of this.
I'm not claiming I've found it.
But for now, we keep going. ❤️

29/09/2026

✈️ Derby one day. Belfast the next.
Point-of-care testing has suddenly become a pretty big part of my working week. 🩸
I've been doing more testing from my own clinic recently, but I've also been spending a lot more time training other healthcare professionals to use point-of-care testing equipment.
And the last couple of weeks have been particularly busy!
I've now delivered several training sessions, including one from my own training room in Derby, before jumping on a plane that evening and heading over to Belfast. ✈️
The next few days were spent training 14 pharmacists in the use of the point-of-care testing equipment - and what a lovely bunch they were. ❤️
I've always found Northern Ireland incredibly friendly, and this trip certainly didn't change my mind. Everyone couldn't have been more welcoming, the training went really well, and hopefully it won't be my last visit. There are plans for more training over there, so Belfast may become a fairly regular destination for me.
There is something I really enjoy about teaching equipment like this.
I've spent years training phlebotomy, but healthcare is changing. More and more services are becoming available outside traditional hospital and GP settings, and point-of-care testing means certain tests can be performed there and then rather than everything having to follow the traditional laboratory route.
But the technology is only part of it.
You still need people who know how to use it properly. 🎓
So it's exciting to be involved not just in offering these services myself, but in training other healthcare professionals to do the same.
Although I could perhaps have planned the timing better...
Because apparently September Edd decided that training people in Derby and Belfast while simultaneously getting three children back into education sounded perfectly sensible. 😂🤦‍

Address

45-47 Main Street
Derby
DE655GP

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 12pm
Tuesday	9am - 12pm
Wednesday	9am - 12pm

Telephone

+443333399932

Website

https://calendly.com/edd-bloodsandbeyond, http://www.bloodsandbeyond.co.uk/, https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/1-227516163

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