This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Positive thinking on organ donation
13/10/2002
Deputy Health Minister Mary Mulligan today appealed for
more Scots to think positively about organ donation,
discuss their wishes with their loved ones and carry an
organ donor card.
She made her plea at a ceremony today to mark the 10th
anniversary of the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit in
Edinburgh, which to date has carried out nearly 450
transplants and has gained an international reputation for
its work.
The Minister said:
"Around 6,000 people across the UK need an organ
transplant each year but only around 2,800 transplants are
carried out because the number of people donating organs in
recent years has fallen and is continuing to fall.
"At the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit - as at all our
transplant units - highly dedicated transplant teams are
helping to save and prolong the lives of many Scots who are
seriously ill. But unless we address the chronic shortage
of donor organs in this country and the rest of the UK,
future opportunities to save more lives will be lost.
"Therefore, while I am delighted today to be able to pay
tribute to the skills and dedication of the Unit's staff,
we must never lose sight of the immense generosity of the
donors and their families, without whom the 450 transplants
would never have taken place.
"I think it is also important that we remind the public
that unless more people continue to donate organs,
thousands of people will face an increasingly impaired
quality of life or, in many cases, death.
"We in the Executive are so concerned about this, that
we have been working with the Scottish Transplant Group to
produce an organ donation strategy. Issued for wide
consultation in July, this recommends a variety of options
to try and improve donation and raise the public's
awareness of this important issue.
"One example is the creation of a non-heartbeating
donation programme, to open up the possibility of becoming
an organ donor to a much wider range of people; development
of a major publicity campaign to raise public awareness of
organ donation; and the teaching of the subject of organ
donation in schools.
"Work is now well underway on developing both the
national advertising campaign and the teaching resource
pack, both of which over time will help make the public
more aware of this sensitive but potentially life-saving
issue.
"Meanwhile, I would appeal to Scots to remember the 450
lives which have been saved at the Scottish Liver
Transplant Unit. And the many other lives which have been
saved or transformed by our other transplant units.
"Perhaps then, people will be more willing to discuss
the subject of organ donation with their loved ones and
carry an organ donor card to indicate their wishes."
Prior to the opening of the Scottish Liver Transplant
Unit in 1992, any Scottish patients who required liver
transplantation had to travel to England (usually
Birmingham) for their care.
As part of the organ retrieval arrangements in Scotland,
the Unit's transplant team is also responsible for the
retrieval of any livers which become available for
transplantation. This means travelling anywhere in the
country at any time of the day or night.
Non-heartbeating donation has been used in a number of
centres in the UK and is most often carried out in the
following situation:
A patient is brought into A&E and is declared dead.
A small catheter is then introduced into the main artery in
the groin and is used to perfuse the kidneys and keep them
cold until a discussion can be carried out with relatives.
If they do not agree to donation, the procedure goes no
further, the small cannula is removed and the groin
sutured. If however the relatives agree to donation, the
kidneys are removed in the operating theatre.
Transplantation is then carried out in the usual way.
Consultation on the Scottish Transplant Group's Organ
Donation Strategy for Scotland closed at the beginning of
this month. The Group will consider the responses, and the
way ahead, at its next meeting.