NHS Tayside supports Organ Donation Week

NHS Tayside  supports Organ Donation Week

MONDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER, 2017

PHOTO ATTACHED: ALEX STEPHEN, REVIVAL ,AUDREY MCHUGH AND SANDRA MIDDLETON TAYSIDE KIDNEY PATIENTS ASSOCIATION, PETER BOAG, TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT, DR STEPHEN COLE, LYNNE MALLEY SPECIALIST NURSE ORGAN DONATION AND SHARON MUIRHEAD, TISSUE BANK COORDINATOR

NHS Tayside supports Organ Donation Week

NHS Tayside is supporting Organ Donation Week from 4 to 10 September with information stands at Ninewells Hospital and Perth Royal Infirmary.

The theme for this year’s campaign is ‘We need everybody’ which encourages everyone to sign up to the organ donor register regardless of their ethnicity, body shape, size or medical history.

In Scotland there are 4,345 people currently alive thanks to organ donors and their families, yet despite 45 % of the Scottish population having joined the organ donor register – 580 people are still waiting for a life-saving transplant.

In support of Organ Donation Week NHS Tayside will be encouraging the people of Tayside to join the organ donor register by visiting www.weneedeverybody.org

Throughout the week there will be information stands on the main concourse at Ninewells and in the reception area at Perth Royal Infirmary to raise awareness of why it is important to join the organ donor register, find out how successful transplants are and why it is so important that people discuss their wishes with their families.

Specialist nurses along with representatives from local charities Revival and Tayside Kidney Patients Association will be hosting the information stand at Ninewells giving out information on organ donation every day from 10am until 4pm.

The information stand at Perth Royal Infirmary will run from 11am until 4pm and will also have a wide range of information leaflets on organ donation available for the public and staff.

NHS Tayside Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine Dr Stephen Cole said, “One organ donor can save or transform up to nine lives so we really need everybody to sign the register. The message of ‘We need everybody’ is very true and as this year’s campaign again highlights all shapes, sizes and ages can join the register.

“There are around 580 people waiting for an organ transplant in Scotland but there are not enough organs to meet these needs and sadly someone dies every day whilst waiting for an organ.

“Lots of people think they would be unsuitable to donate organs and tissues because of medical history or lifestyle choices, but each potential donor is individually assessed and we need people from all ethnicities and backgrounds to register.

“It is vital that everyone who joins the organ donor register and those who would like to be an organ donor but have not yet signed up talk to their families and close friends about their wishes.

“Joining the organ donor register takes about two minutes but those two minutes could quite literally save a life.”

You can register to be a donor at www.weneedeverybody.org

Contact:

Anna Michie

NHS Tayside Communications

(01382) 424138

4 September 2017