Mayor backs organ donor campaign

SPREADING the message outside Spindles are (back, from the left) Oldham Mayor, Councillor Jim McArdle, Janet Hegarty, a consultant nephrologist at Hope Hospital, the Mayoress, Councillor Kay Knox, (front, from the left), Jane Redshaw, a sister at Salford Royal Hospital, Joshua Holland (three) and Karen Scroby, a sister at Salford Royal Hospital

OLDHAM Mayor Councillor Jim McArdle joined forces with transplant professionals to highlight the benefits of becoming an organ donor.

Representatives from Salford Royal transplant nursing team, NHS Oldham and the Organ Donor Family Network were also on hand to speak to local people outside the Spindles Shopping Centre.

The information stall was held as part of National Transplant Week, which started on Monday.

Dr Donal O’Donoghue, national clinical director for kidney care, said: “It is really important we raise awareness of organ donation, and National Transplant Week is an excellent opportunity to do just that.

“Becoming an organ donor really is a life-saving move and something we should all consider.”

In the west sector of Greater Manchester’s kidney care network there are currently 255 patients on the transplant list waiting for a kidney.

Of these, the longest wait is 296 months, that’s over 24 years.

A map showing the percentage of the UK population who have signed up to the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR), published by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), reveals that in Oldham, 19.1 per cent of people have joined the register, compared with the national average of 27 per cent.

Last year, from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009, around 3,513 organ transplants were carried out in the UK thanks to 1,854 deceased and living donors — the highest on record.

Anyone wishing to join the NHS Organ Donor Register should call 0845-60 60 400.