Consultation Launched On Organ Donation And Transplantation

A public consultation on a new approach to promote organ donation and transplantation has been launched by the Department of Health, marking Northern Ireland's Organ Donation Day, 11 December 2017.

The draft policy statement aims to make more life-saving organs available for transplantation, through a coordinated programme of activities designed to improve public awareness and to encourage people to discuss their wishes with their family and friends.

A new statutory duty introduced by the Assembly in 2016 requires the Department to promote organ transplantation by providing information and increasing awareness about donation.

The draft policy proposes a number of commitments through which this can be achieved by enabling structured engagement with all sections of society, in order to promote positive long term change to 2020 and beyond. It focuses on two key objectives:

• encouraging positive actions and behaviours in relation to organ donation, such as discussing organ donation wishes with family and close friends, or joining the Organ Donor Register (ODR); and

• developing and providing appropriate awareness training for healthcare professionals involved along the consent journey.

Referring to the consultation document, Dr Paul Glover, Regional Clinical Lead for Organ Donation in Northern Ireland and who chaired the Clinical Advisory Group which developed the draft policy, said: "What we are proposing for the first time is an ongoing funded programme of coordinated activities which we really believe can build upon the existing positive attitudes of people in Northern Ireland towards organ donation, and ultimately save and improve more lives.

"It is important that we hear people's views at the outset about what they feel will be most effective, as this will help to design and prioritise those activities."

Speaking about the importance of a coordinated approach to organ donation, kidney transplant surgeon Dr Tim Brown said: "Significant progress has been made in recent years to improve the infrastructure around organ donation in Northern Ireland and we benefit from having generally positive attitudes across our population, however, we still have people waiting on transplants and it is important to maximise all opportunities for donation to occur.

"Building upon progress is a matter for everyone in our society and through this new policy we simply want to make it easier for people to have an informed conversation with their loved ones."

The Department would like to encourage everyone to have their say on the commitments contained in the draft policy statement. To assist this process, the Department intends to hold a series of public meetings early in the New Year which will be facilitated by the Health and Social Care Leadership Centre as well as engaging with relevant charities. Further details will be publicised about these public meetings in due course.

The consultation document can be viewed on the Department's website, and written submissions can be sent to Organ Donation Consultation, Department of Health, Room 1, Annex 1, Stormont Estate, Belfast, BT4 3SQ.

(MH/LM)