ORGAN DONATION

If you believe in organ donation, prove it...
helping..

Would you take an organ if you needed one? Nearly everyone would. But only 29% of us have joined the Organ Donor Register.   More than 10,000 people in the UK currently need a transplant. Of these, 1000 each year – that's three a day - will die waiting as there are not enough organs available.

Please help us to turn people’s good intentions about organ donation into action by registering on the NHS ORGAN DONOR

As one of the three arms of NHSBT, ODTs key role is to ensure that organs donated for transplant are matched and allocated to patients in a fair and unbiased way. Matching, particularly in the case of kidneys, is so important that donation and allocation needs to be organised nationally. The larger the pool of organs, the better the likelihood there is of a good match.
Unlike some other NHS organisations, ODT do not have a direct relationship with patients and do not provide "hands on" care. However, in providing support to transplantation services across the UK, everything ODT does has an impact on the quality of service delivered to individual patients.
ODT's specific responsibilities include:

• managing the UK Transplant Registry which includes details of all donors and patients who are waiting for, or who have received, a transplant;
• providing a 24-hour service for the matching and allocation of donated organs and making the transport arrangements to get the organs to patients;
• maintaining the national NHS Organ Donor Register;
• improving organ donation rates by funding initiatives in the wider NHS;
• contributing to the development of performance indicators, standards and protocols which guide the work of organ donation and transplantation;
• acting as a central point for information on transplant matters;
• providing central support to all transplant units in the UK;
• auditing and analysing the results of all organ transplants in the UK and Republic of Ireland to improve patient care;
• raising public awareness of the importance of organ donation.

History of Organ Donation and Transplantation Directorate (formerly UK Transplant)

UK Transplant was established in 1991 as the UK Transplant Support Service Authority (UKTSSA). In July 2000, UK Transplant was formed with a new, extended remit to increase organ donation rates. In October 2005 UK Transplant merged with the National Blood Service and Bio Products Laboratory to form NHS Blood and Transplant, an NHS Special Health Authority responsible for optimising the supply of blood, organs, plasma and tissues and raising the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of blood and transplant services.
1968 – National Tissue Typing and Reference Laboratory (NTTRL) established at Southmead Hospital, Bristol
1972 – National Organ Matching and Distribution Service (MOMDS) founded.
1979 – NTTRL and NOMDS merge to become UK Transplant Service.
1991 – UK Transplant Service becomes Special Health Authority and is renamed United Kingdom Transplant Support Service Authority (UKTSSA).
1993 – UKTSSA moves to purpose-built accommodation at Stoke Gifford, Bristol.
2000 – UK Transplant takes over from UKTSSA with new, extended remit.
2005 – UK Transplant merges with the National Blood Service and Bio Products Laboratory to form NHS Blood and Transplant.
2008 – UK Transplant renamed Directorate of Organ Donation & Transplantation.

Statistics

Transplants save lives

In the UK between 1 April 2011 and 31 March 2012:

• 3,960 organ transplants were carried out, thanks to the generosity of 2,143 donors.
• 1,107 lives were saved in the UK through a heart, lung, liver or combined heart/lungs, liver/kidney or liver/pancreas transplant.
• 2,846 patients' lives were dramatically improved by a kidney or pancreas transplant, 173 of whom received a combined kidney/pancreas transplant.
• A further 3,521 people had their sight restored through a cornea transplant.
• A record number of 674 kidney transplants from donors after circulatory death took place and accounted for one in four of all kidney transplants.
• 1,009 living donor kidney transplants were carried out accounting for more than a third of all kidney transplants. 'Non-directed' living donor transplants (also known as altruistic donor transplants) and paired and pooled donations contributed more than 80 kidney transplants between them.
• Almost 942,000 more people pledged to help others after their death by registering their wishes on the NHS Organ Donor Register, bringing the total to 18,693,549 (March 2012).

THEM TODAY..YOU TOMOROW...