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Organ Donation Task Force Report is vindication of NKF campaign

NKF heralds red letter day

Embargoed until 09:30 GMT Wednesday 16th January 2008

NKF, Nottinghamshire. 16 January 2008. The National Kidney Federation (NKF) welcomes the publication of the Organ Donation Task Force report calling for a complete overhaul of transplant services in the UK.¹ If implemented, the report’s recommendations could increase by 50% the number of kidney transplants each year.

“The NKF has campaigned for changes to the NHS Transplant structure for more than 10 years,” said Timothy Statham, Chief Executive of the National Kidney Federation. “If the Government implements these recommendations thousands of lives will be saved or dramatically improved. It is a win, win situation and a red letter day in the history of the NKF and is a complete vindication of our campaigning.”

The report does not address the issue of presumed consent but calls for much needed improvements in the organisation and methodology of transplants to prevent the wastage of donated organs.

Whilst the NKF supports the call for presumed consent we first need to ensure that the NHS puts in place the infrastructure required to cope with the number of organs already available in the UK. Every day just 5 kidney transplants take place yet 360 registered organ donors die each day. Just doubling the number of kidneys transplants, from 5 to 10, would bring an end to the transplant waiting list. The proposals announced in the report take us much closer to that goal.

To increase the number of kidney transplants in the UK there needs to be a significant increase in the number of transplant co-ordinators, transplant support services and the NHS needs to adopt an integrated transplant culture to create a national and not a local transplant service.

The NKF campaign culminated in a Transplant Summit held by the All Party Parliamentary Kidney Group of MP’s in Westminster, May 2006. This resulted in the publication of a report More Transplants, Saving More Lives which sets out ten key steps for change. Following publication of that report the Government then established the Organ Donation Taskforce whose own report is published today. The NKF is very pleased to see the adoption of recommendations that if implemented, address keys actions set out in the All Party Parliamentary Kidney Group – More Transplants, Saving More Lives report.

Timothy Statham, Chief Executive of the National Kidney Federation said, “For our members, the 40,000 end stage renal disease patients, this is truly a historic day. Today (providing the Government implements the report recommendations) they have the promise of a relief from thrice weekly dialysis and a return to real living. We urge everyone to join the Organ Donor register and make a difference”

ENDS

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Notes to editors

Organ Donation Taskforce

The UK-wide Organ Donation Taskforce, chaired by Elisabeth Buggins, was established in 2006 to identify barriers to organ donation and recommend actions needed to increase organ donation and procurement within the current legal framework.¹

All Party Parliamentary Kidney Group — More Transplants, Saving More Lives report — Action Plan³

1. Recognise the importance of increasing transplants
2. Double the donation rate in the UK to match our European neighbours
3. Reduce the rates at which relatives refuse to give consent for registered donors to donate organs
4. Incentivise best practice in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) non-heart-beating donor programmes
5. Establish a national organ retrieval programme
6. Increase transplant capacity
7. Train sufficient numbers of transplant surgeons
8. Maximise the efficiency of transplant teams by cutting unnecessary bureaucracy
9. Audit transplants in all its aspects and provide a clear strategy for enhancement of transplants under current arrangements
10. Review the effectiveness of legislation, policies and practice on a regular basis

About the APPKG

The APPKG consists of 174 members from the Houses of Parliament and the Lords. It was established in 1997. The registered purpose is: “To improve understanding in parliament of kidney disease and transplant medicine and promote improvements in the health and care services that are available to improve the health of people with renal failure.” The NKF serves as the secretariat for the APPKG.

Key Kidney Facts

Donor organs come from live donors (for example, relatives or friends who donate a kidney, or cadavers) (either those who have agreed to donate their organs after death or for whom there is no known objection).

• There were 1800 kidney transplants carried out last year³
• There are 6000 patients on the official Kidney Transplant list. However, there are currently a further 14,000 people with end stage renal failure many of whom would benefit from a transplant³
• 400 patients on the waiting list die each year waiting for a kidney³
• Only around 70 out of 300 intensive care units in the UK operate a Non Heart Beating Donor programme³
• About 50 per cent of bereaved relatives refuse the approach for organ donation³
• A year after surgery 94% of kidneys in living donor transplants and 88% of kidneys from people who have died are still functioning well. These figures are improving all the time²

References

1. ¹Organ Donation Task Force report, DoH 2008 (on DoH website)
2. ²UK Transplant, Statistics: http://www.uktransplant.org.uk/ukt/statistics/statistics.jsp. Accessed January 2008
3. ³All Party Parliamentary Kidney Group. More Transplants, Saving More Lives report, 2006

Further

Click here to listen to an interview with Elisabeth Buggins on the report of the Organ Donation Task Force.

Organ Donation Task Force report - January 2008 (PDF, 640kB).

Organ Donation Task Force Supplement - January 2008 (PDF, 990kB).