Referral plan boosts organ transplants

ORGAN transplants are on the rise at Pennine Acute Trust despite the decision not to change the donor consent system in England.

Since July 1, donor co-ordinators have been successfully trialling required referral in three of the trust’s hospitals.

Required referral means donor co-ordinators work with bereaved families to give information which allows them to make their own decision on giving consent.

The trust, which runs the Royal Oldham Hospital, has held the trials at Rochdale Infirmary, North Manchester General Hospital and Fairfield General Hospital in Bury.

Greg Bleakley, a donor transplant co-ordinator for the North-West, believes at least four lives have been saved using required referral.

He said: “The results have been fabulous. For the first six months of the year before the trial we had four referrals and no successful donors.

“But from the trial being implemented on July 1, we have had 45 referrals and four successful organ donors from Pennine Acute hospitals.

Awareness

“Staff have become used to asking families to consider organ and tissue donation as part of their normal duties.

“The families of all suitable patients are offered donation as a normal part of end-of-life care.”

Jane Monks, a donor transplant co-ordinator, insists raising awareness is the only way of improving organ donations.

She said: “Unless we know it was an expressed wish for a patient not to become an organ donor then families should be given the option of organ and tissue donation as a normal part of end-of-life care.

“The key is asking the question, and what has been shown over time is that the transplant co-ordinator can help families through this difficult time and allow them to make decisions that they feel comfortable with.

“The reason families used to decline was because they had never talked about organ donation before and, indeed, the way they were approached by inexperienced hospital staff.

“There is a great deal to be done to raise awareness, and to tackle fears and the anxieties families have about permitting organ donation.

“We could not have asked for more support from Pennine and the results so far are extremely encouraging.”