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'Lessons to learn' on organ donors | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
Lessons could be learned from a health board which increased its organ donors despite an overall drop in Scotland, the Scottish government has said. | |
NHS Grampian has achieved a five-fold increase in deceased donors over the past four years, from three in 2010/11 to 15 in 2014/15. | |
But the number of patients successfully receiving organ transplants in Scotland fell by by 9% to 360. | |
There were also falls in the numbers of deceased and living organ donors. | |
According to the NHS Blood and Transplant service, the number of deceased donors in Scotland fell from 106 to 98 in the 12 months up to March of this year. | |
The number of living donors also fell slightly to 81. | |
Public health minister Maureen Watt said lessons could be learned from NHS Grampian, as she visited Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. | |
Ms Watt said: "We are making significant progress on organ donation. Since we started our plan of improvement in 2008 we have seen an 82% increase in deceased donor numbers; a 42% increase in the number of transplants undertaken and the active transplant waiting list has reduced by over 20%. | |
"I am particularly pleased to see such an improvement here in Grampian. It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the many NHS staff across NHS Grampian who have worked tirelessly to make this possible. | |
"I am very aware that organ donation can only occur as a result of tragic circumstances and it is important that we pay tribute to the organ donors and to their families who made the decision to help others. | |
"We will now look to see what lessons can be learned from Grampian and see if this can be replicated in other hospitals in Scotland." | |
Dr Iain Macleod, the clinician in charge of organ donation for NHS Grampian, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "We've spent a lot of time working with the team in the intensive care unit and we have specialist nurses who deal with donation. | Dr Iain Macleod, the clinician in charge of organ donation for NHS Grampian, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "We've spent a lot of time working with the team in the intensive care unit and we have specialist nurses who deal with donation. |
"We're trying to make it normal practice to ask families, at what is a terrible time for them, if their loved ones would like to donate. Just by asking that question more often we are finding families are saying yes." | "We're trying to make it normal practice to ask families, at what is a terrible time for them, if their loved ones would like to donate. Just by asking that question more often we are finding families are saying yes." |
UK-wide the number of organ donations fell for the first time in 11 years with 224 fewer transplants. | UK-wide the number of organ donations fell for the first time in 11 years with 224 fewer transplants. |
Key Scottish figures | Key Scottish figures |