Organ donation is not something that we’ve had to deal with before, but understand that it affects many people. Ed
During a visit to St. Mary’s Hospital the Island’s Lord Lieutenant helped launch the “Put the Isle of Wight on the Wall of Life” campaign to encourage Islanders to sign up to the National Organ Donor Register.
Dr Oliver Cramer, Consultant Anaesthetist and Clinical Lead for Organ Donation at NHS Isle of Wight presented details of the current National Organ Donation Programme and outlined some key facts:
- The UK has one of the worst records for organ donation in western Europe. More than 7,500 people need an organ transplant in the UK, 3 of those people a day die waiting for an organ, however the lists keeps growing constantly.
- Last year (2009-10) a record 3,709 people’s lives were saved and transformed by a transplant. More than one in four of all transplants are from living donors.
Transplants are now so successful that many more patients can be considered for treatment in this way.
Advances in surgical skills and modern follow up therapy mean that a year after surgery:
– 96% of kidneys in living donor transplants
– 93% of kidneys from people who have died
– 91% of liver transplants;
– 83% of heart transplants; and
– 79% of lung transplants are still functioning well. These figures are improving all the time.
- The median (average) waiting time for an adult kidney transplant is 1,110 days. Children, who are prioritised in the matching sequence, wait on average 277 days.
- Adults wait an average of 184 days for a heart and 519 for a lung. Children wait an average of 93 days for a heart.
- Adults wait an average of 149 days for a liver transplant, while children wait an average of 86 days.
- About 1,000 people die every year in the UK while waiting for an organ transplant or because they become too ill to survive an operation and are removed from the list.
Dr Cramer said, “We were pleased to welcome the Lord Lieutenant Maj General White to St. Mary’s and to have the opportunity to explain more about Organ Donation and the National Organ Donor Register. The Lord Lieutenant signed up to the Register whilst being with us using the easy online registration tool.”
“Organ Donation is a gift of life”, continued Dr Cramer. “Transplants save lives – each year the number of patients added to the transplant waiting list continues to increase. This means that patients have to wait months, even years, and some patients will die whilst waiting. It is important for those thinking about joining the Register to share their wishes with family and friends.” Dr Cramer stressed how important it was to have this discussion whilst being healthy saying: “It is very difficult for families to think about this in stressful times.”
It is also important that people who are already carrying a donor card check whether they are actually on the new register (online or by phone, see below) – as the electronic register was developed after donor cards were available.
“Here on the Island we already have a good record for Organ Donation but you can always improve and we want more people to sign up so that Islanders and other patients can receive help when they need it most.” said Dr Cramer.
You can join the NHS Organ Donor Register by:
- Filling in a form online
- Calling the NHS Donor Line on 0300 123 23 23 (Lines are open 24 hours a day all year round. Calls are charged at your contracted rate for local calls)
- By texting SAVE to 84118
More information about organ donation and why it matters for us all can also be found Organ Donation Website
NHS Isle of Wight will be supporting NHS Blood and Transplant by promoting Organ Donation in a variety of ways during the next 12 months.
