Organ Donation Statistics for 2016
Minister for Health, Simon Harris, TD, recently opened the new headquarters for Organ Donation & Transplant Ireland (ODTI) in Temple Street in the heart of Dublin City Centre. At this event the ODTI annual report for 2016 was also published.
Opening the new dedicated premises, Minister Harris congratulated the ODTI on their leadership and their dedication to saving lives by improving donation rates in Ireland, and said the ODTI play a vital role in promoting the importance of organ donation and transplantation in Ireland.
The ODTI was established to provide governance, integration and leadership for organ donation and transplantation in Ireland. There are three transplant centres; the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, St. Vincent's University Hospital (SVUH) and Beaumont Hospital.
The annual report for 2016 outlines the key outcomes and activities in organ donation and transplant in Ireland last year.
Overall, 280 organ transplants were carried out during 2016, with an average rate of 23 transplants per month. The organ transplant figures for 2016 were:
• 172 kidney transplants at National Renal Transplant Service, Beaumont Hospital;
• 58 liver transplants at National Liver transplant service, St Vincent’s University Hospital;
• 35 lung transplants and 15 heart transplants at the National Heart lung transplant service at the Mater University Hospital.
Speaking at the opening Minister Harris said "I'm proud to say that the 2016 organ transplant figures , which saw 280 transplants carried out, is the second highest annual performance achieved to date. The living Kidney Programme continues to go from strength to strength, and the excellent performance of the National Renal Transplant Service in Beaumont Hospital saw a remarkable increase in living donor transplants from 33 in 2015 to a record 50 last year".
Minister Harris also emphasised that he prioritised the development of legislation to provide for an opt-out system of consent for organ donation and, he said, "my department is currently working on this in the context of work required to develop an over-arching human tissue policy and legislative framework. I intend to bring a memo to Government shortly setting out this policy direction and it is my intention to launch a public consultation on the development of the proposals before the end of the Summer".
Prof Jim Egan, Director of Organ Donation and Transplant Ireland added: "The new ODTI office, suitably located in the heart of the City, will give our coordinators swift access to the hospitals that carry out transplants". He thanked the Minister and the staff of the National Organ Procurement Service, the Intensive Care Units and Theatres, as well as the nurses and all staff in hospitals nationwide for their commitment who play a key role in the donation process. “I especially want to thank", he continued, "the 77 families whose courage and generosity in donating organs saved the lives of 280 people last year".
Within the ODTI, the National Organ Procurement Service (NOPS) is managed by six Donor Coordinators. NOPS provide a 24 hour on-call service, 365 days a year, in planning and arranging transplants when donor organs become available, guiding and advising with the patient's healthcare team, recipient centres, and supporting the family of the donor throughout the process. Post donation de-briefs are also conducted with the staff teams involved in the donation process.
There are also six Organ Donor Nurse Managers (ODNMs) based in HSE Hospital Groups who work in partnership wit the Clinical Leads in Organ Donation (CLODS) - anaesthetists/intensivists within the hospital groups, providing education, study days, and training courses.
For further details on the ODTI: http://www.hse.ie/eng/about/Who/organdonation/
