Becoming a stool donor is simple, easy, and it helps others
The donation process
Step 1 – Sign-up online
Find out if you’re eligible to donate
The donation process begins by taking an online questionnaire to determine your eligibility. You will be asked a broad range of questions about your health and medical history. It should only take a few minutes.
If it looks like you might be an eligible donor, we will email you with details of how to schedule your Screening Session.
Step 2 – Screening session
If you’re eligible you will be invited to a Screening Session at the Human Nutrition Unit, The Rowett in Aberdeen. This session will take approximately 1 hour.
At this session you will meet the Donor Operations Manager to discuss any questions you might have and go through the relevant Donor Information Sheet. If you are happy to do so you will be asked to complete and sign a consent form, and a General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) document.
Consultation with a registered medical professional
You will then see a doctor who is independent and registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). This allows them to review your health questionnaire with you and give you an opportunity to ask any further questions you may have.
Assuming everything goes well with these preceding steps, and you remain happy to become a stool donor, you will be assigned an anonymised donor number. This number is unique to you and will be used to identify you and track any of your donations within our donor programme, instead of using any personal identifiable information.
Blood and stool screening
We require you to have your blood and stool tested as part of a routine screening process. Your blood and stool will be sent, anonymised, to selected reference and screening laboratories who will test for general health screening, viruses, bacteria, parasites, and ova. This testing is repeated approximately every 30 days, as the final product produced from your donations is held in quarantine, until testing is complete.
For each blood test, a small needle will be inserted into your arm and approximately 30ml of blood will be withdrawn. For your stool test, a donation can be provided on site at The Rowett, or we will give you a small pot to take home. You can either return this to The Rowett Institute, or it can be collected by our driver.
Results from the blood and stool screening tests can take 2-4 weeks to be analysed, interpreted, and collated from the various laboratories involved.
Get approved
After you have completed the consent process and you blood & stool testing has been sent away will you be approved to start donating on a regular basis.
Step 3 – Start donating
Once you’ve been approved, a member of the Donor Operations Team will contact you with details on how to begin donating.
There are two different options for donating
You can either visit The Rowett Institute and use their dedicated toilet facilities, or you can donate in your own home, using a home donation pack that we supply. We will provide you with an instruction leaflet for each option, and you can discuss this with a member of the Donor Operations Team to ask any questions you may have.
1. Donate at The Rowett Institute
Donations at The Rowett Institute are between 7am-1pm, Monday to Friday, and no appointments are required. Donation Kits are available at the Rowett Institute which contain everything you require to perform a donation. You donate, place your donation bag into the fridge, and carry on with your day.
2. Donate at home
Home donations operate Monday to Friday, 6am-2pm (up to 4pm if required). We will provide you with home donation kits, which includes everything you need, the donor questionnaire, sealed donation pot, bag, gloves, and a cool bag. You will complete the short questionnaire, donate into the pot, and place it in the cool bag provided. Send a message to a private WhatsApp group, which alerts the driver to come to your home to collect your donation. The driver will provide a new donation kit when they collect your donation.
You will be informed by the Donor Operations Team of any dates that donations cannot be received.
Donation details
You’re asked to donate on average a minimum of 3-4 days per week (you can donate more than once a day). You can take holidays as you normally would, and simply return to the programme after your holiday. You can participate in the programme for as long as you wish.
Routine screenings
Every 30 days a member of The Donor Operations Team will invite you into The Rowett Institute for a routine blood test. This will be at a time and date convenient to you. At this screening you will complete a short questionnaire to confirm any changes to your medical conditions/treatments/lifestyle.
Each individual donation will be tested for pathogens and we automatically send a stool sample away for testing stool health markers every 15 days, this is taken from your regular donations.
Expenses
Any expenses are gifted directly into your bank account at the end of each month.
Ready to make a difference?
Become a stool donor to help develop new treatments for people with life threatening diseases. You will help change lives!