news@QEHB October 2017

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OCTOBER 2017 | University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Time to talk about organ donation Transplant teams played a key role in initiatives to mark Organ Donor Week. The number of people in the United Kingdom currently known to be alive thanks to organ transplants has broken 50,000 for the first time but many more are still waiting for the lifechanging call. At a stand in the atrium, transplant teams joined recipients and their families to talk about their work and more than 250 members of staff, patients and visitors signed up to the organ donor register. Mathew Hipwood, Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation helped to coordinate the liver team’s activities for the week, and other support came from the renal transplant team.

The Organ Donor Week is an opportunity for staff and patients to come together to celebrate the incredible work at the QEHB. Lucy Kirk Lead Renal Transplant Coordinator Lucy Kirk, Lead Renal Transplant Coordinator, said: “The Organ Donor Week is an opportunity for staff and patients to come together to celebrate the incredible work performed by the transplant teams at the QEHB and, encourage visitors and other staff members to talk about organ donation. “The generosity of every organ donor to give the gift of life, the kindness of every organ donor family and the bravery of every transplant recipient was celebrated throughout the week.” Supporters of The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kidney Patients’ Association, QEHKPA, were in the atrium to support the transplant team. Nick Flint, from QEHKPA, said: “Very many people asked for information and there was the opportunity for those who were waiting for a

The NHS Organ Donor Register is a personal choice but, knowing that you could save up to nine lives, what will you do. Waste or Save?

Transplant teams joined recipients and their families to talk about their work

transplant or who had recently had one to meet and talk with others who had been through the system with several years of experience of life after transplantation.” The QEHKPA had started the week with a thanksgiving service held at St Stephen’s Church, Redditch, organised by Lady Whitfield. Her father was the oldest patient to receive a heart transplant and was the oldest living recipient when he passed away aged 93. The service was a very emotional occasion with donor families and recipients expressing what it meant to them. Majid Mukadam MBE, Retrieval Heart Lung Transplant Surgeon at the QE, spoke about how he and his team dealt with families at a very sensitive and emotional time. Singing came from the Arrow Vale Singers and Gemma Turner. The congregation included High Sherriff of Worcestershire Mr Stephen Betts, the Deputy Mayor of Redditch, local councillors and the MP for Redditch. Despite the record-breaking public commitment to donation, the overall shortage of donated organs remains and there are still around 6,400 people currently waiting for a transplant.

Sally Johnson, Director of Organ Donation and Transplantation for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “More people than ever are agreeing to organ donation and that is saving more lives than ever. “This is an immense achievement. It’s amazing to picture all the people now alive today thanks to organ donation and think of all the families and children who have grown up thanks to donors. “We’re seeing more and more people committing to donation and the good results of our close work with hospitals. Our specialist nurses in organ donation are now almost always involved in discussions with families over organ donation. “However, there is still a long way to go. Around three people still die a day in need of a transplant. “Every one of those people who die could be a mother or a father, a daughter or a son, who might be alive today. “Families tell us donation is a source of pride that helps them in their grieving process. “We don’t want anyone to miss the opportunity to save lives. Please join the NHS Organ Donor Register. It only takes two minutes.”

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has successfully been awarded funding to establish the NIHR Trauma Management MedTech Cooperative. This comes following the Secretary of State for Health’s announcement of £14.25 million funding to support eleven NIHR Medtech and In vitro Diagnostic Co-operatives nationally. The NIHR Medtech and In vitro diagnostic Co-operatives will build expertise and capacity in the NHS to develop new medical technologies and provide evidence on commercially-supplied in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests. Funding will be provided over five years for leading NHS organisations to act as centres of expertise; bringing together patients, clinicians, researchers, commissioners and industry. The NIHR Trauma MedTech Co-operative at University Hospitals Birmingham will have a specific focus on medical devices and technology in the trauma management field, led by Dr Tom Clutton-Brock. University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust is a UK Major Trauma Centre, home to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, the Regional Burns Centre and the NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre which specialises in trauma research. This award will allow the Trust to build on five successful years of working with the public, clinicians, academics and industry which has driven innovation in the Medtech sector, as part of the NIHR Healthcare Technology Co-Operatives (HTC) initiative. Dr Louise Wood, Director of Science, Research and Evidence at the Department of Health said: “The funding received by the eleven NIHR Medtech and In vitro diagnostic Co-operatives will make a real difference to patients’ lives and provide a focal point for the medtech and in vitro diagnostic industries to develop new technologies and generate the evidence needed by the NHS to support the uptake of new tests.” . The commencement of the NIHR Trauma MedTech Cooperative will coincide with the launch of the Medical Devices Testing and Evaluation Centre (MD-TEC) financially supported by the European Regional Development Fund in Birmingham in January 2018; which will offer a unique opportunity to facilitate evaluation of products for industry in a ‘real-life’ environment, involving appropriate clinical and technical staff.

Charity support 50–50 Club Staff Lottery

NHS Organ Donor Ca rd

Join the NHS Organ Donor Register today and tell your loved ones – don’t leave anyone in any doubt about your decision! ¬ www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ wasteorsave/#timetosign  www.facebook.com/nhsorgandonor  Twitter: @NHSOrganDonor  Instagram: @nhsorgandonor  www.youtube.com/user/NHSOrganDonation

Funding to support Trauma Management MedTech Cooperative

Five Ways Medical Centre in Ladywood organised a fun run to support the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kidney Patients’ Association, QEHKPA, in memory of Mr Sant Surjit Singh Surdhar, who was a renal patient at the hospital. About 150 friends, relatives and patients at the practice joined in the run with centre

staff organising refreshments for participants. The event raised £8,500 for the charity which supports patients and staff at the hospital. The KPA thanks all the staff and those who took part for their very generous support including organisers Gush Surdhar, Practice Manager and Gemma Mooney, Admin Manager.

Trust employee Antony Cobley won the top prize of £1,200 in September’s draw of the Birmingham Healthcare 50-50 Club Staff Lottery. The £500 second prize went to Rosemary Limrick of BCHC and the third prize of £100 was won by Karen Davies who works at Birmingham Women’s Hospital. Half of the entry stakes are reclaimable as vouchers annually which in August included £80 through the National Garden Centre scheme, £870 for Love to Shop and £20 for dental charges. To find out more about how to take part in the draws, which take place on the third Tuesday of every month, contact either your General Office or UHB General Ledger team on ext. 17337.

See www.uhb.nhs.uk for the latest news


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