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News - NHS Blood and Transplant, Bristol UK |
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| Backwell Medical Centre |
| European transplant conference comes to Cardiff |
| Date : - 22/09/2010 |
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Organ donation experts from around the world will meet in Cardiff this week to discuss ways of tackling the desperate shortage of organs for transplant that, in the UK alone, leads to around 1,000 deaths a year.
The 22nd European Organ Donation Congress, organised by the European Transplant Co-ordinators Organisation (ETCO) will bring together more than 350 delegates from 33 countries to discuss the importance of their roles in saving more lives through organ donation.
The conference will be attended by nurses who specialise in caring for donors and patients at different stages of the transplant process.
In the UK, Specialist Nurses in Organ Donation (SN:OD) work closely with intensive care and emergency department staff to identify potential donors as well as supporting bereaved families through the organ donation process.
Recipient Co-ordinators based in transplant centres are responsible for caring for patients from when they are referred for transplant, through their operation and until they go home.
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), the UK’s organ donation organisation, is holding a half-day seminar at the event. Louise Collar, Regional Manager for Organ Donation at NHSBT and a member of the local organising committee for this year’s conference, said: “Specialist Nurses play a vital role throughout the donation and transplant process, caring for donors and their loved ones, supporting patients and their families and working closely with many other healthcare professionals who are involved in retrieving and transplanting donated organs.
“An increase in the number of SN:ODs in the UK means that we now have staff based within the majority of hospitals where donation occurs. This not only helps to improve services to hospital medical staff who can access specialist donation advice faster but also improves the service to donor families.”
Following recommendations in 2008 to increase the number of nurses specialising in organ donation, NHSBT has almost doubled the number to 190 and expects to have completed recruitment by April 2011.
They perform a vital role in the organ donation process. Once they are informed by fellow hospital staff of a potential organ donor they are responsible for giving information and support to the donor’s relatives during the donation process. This includes gaining consent for the donation of their loved one’s organs and tissue in what can be very emotional circumstances.
After donation has taken place, these specialist nurses remain in contact with families to provide ongoing care and information in keeping with their particular wishes for as long and as often as they want.
This year’s congress is being held in the UK for the first time. It is the only event of its kind being held in Europe in 2010, making it an important event for all involved in the field of organ donation and transplantation.
The keynote speaker at the NHSBT seminar will be Kevin A Myer, Business Director at the Center for Transplant System Excellence at the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), who will speak about his experiences of organ donation in the US. Other speakers will include Chris Rudge, England’s National Clinical Director for Transplantation from the Department of Health, Dr Paul Murphy, Clinical Lead, Organ Donation, NHSBT and Anthony Clarkson, Assistant Director, Organ Donation, NHSBT.
ETCO was set up in 1983 to represent all those working as transplant co-ordinators in Europe and around the world to promote organ and tissue donation in all member countries. Its role includes providing training, guidelines, and an interactive forum for professionals and accreditation of professional excellence and quality of procedures.
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| Reference : - www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ukt/ |
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