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Press Release

NHSBT welcomes NICE guideline on improving organ donor identification and consent rates

13 December 2011

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) welcomes the NICE guideline on improving donor identification and consent for deceased organ donation, announced today.

The recommendations for referral include the introduction of a system based upon clinical triggers and further emphasises the importance of the role of specialist nurses in discussing organ donation with potential donors' families. The recommendations mean that potential donors in hospital are identified and referred to the specialist nurses for the organ donation team as soon as the severity of a patient's condition is recognised.

Sally Johnson, Director of Organ Donation and Transplantation at NHSBT, said: "Organ donation rates have already increased by 30% since the publication of the Organ Donation Task Force report in 2008, and hospitals following these guidelines will enable more people to realise their wish to save the lives of others by organ donation.

"They will help ensure that patients dying in hospital have the possibility of donation considered in a timely way as part of their end of life care, and that the families of potential donors receive the best possible advice and support in order to help them honour the donor's wishes.

"NHSBT is now considering how it will support trusts and health boards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to implement the guidance."

To help save more lives through organ transplantation, we need more people to join the NHS Organ Donor Register and discuss their wishes with their families so that if the time comes, their decision can be fulfilled.

To join the NHS Organ Donor Register call 0300 123 23 23 or visit http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/



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NHS Blood and Transplant

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