Memorandum by Gordon Nicholas, Patient
I am a patient of some 30 years, on dialysis,
and then transplanted, for 12 years now back on dialysis.
1. My experience of waiting on average four
years for a transplant is the norm for dialysis patients in the
UK, some wait even longer.
2. UK Transplant operates the organ donor
system, the current organ allocation was developed to spread organs
fairly but is failing as it cannot generate sufficient organs.
3. Better advertising via Television and
other outlets to make the public aware of the importance of organ
donation.
4. Signing up to the register alone is not
the way forward, we need something like the donor card which is
visual so that the public have a sense of belonging, a European
Donor card is a good idea in my opinion but whether the public
will take on the idea of UK organs being used abroad, may be a
downside on organ donation.
5. In the UK the living donors for transplants
is a great success, but it has distorted the transplant figures
as the number of cadaveric donors is falling.
6. UK transplant is needed to ensure equity
of distribution and quality and safety of organs.
7. All organ donations in whatever way they
are given:- Altruistic, pooled, paired, living, cadaveric donations
are all ethical, the trade in organs for financial benefit is
not ethical, and should stamped out.
8. When I had my transplant my life was
transformed leading as normal life as others, my time on dialysis
was/is not a pleasant experience.
9. Transplantation gave me back my life;
dialysis gives me eight years to live.
10. Patients should not be made criminals
trying to save their own live.
11. All religions support organ donation,
but attention is needed to bring this fact to the publics attention.
12. Asian and afro-Caribbean suffer from
renal failure more than the indigenous white population, but the
former less likely to become organ donors.
13. I believe that a system of presumed
consent is the way forward to increase organ donation here in
the UK, every member of the public that I have spoken to in all
my thirty years of renal failure supports the Opt-out system,
but if organs are increased, the medical infrastructures needs
to be altered to cater for increase in organ donation or it will
be wasted.
14. Organ donor relatives need to be made
aware of the donor wishes, there has been a reported drop in organs
donated because relatives who are overriding their loved ones
wishes.
I fully support the EU for this initiative especially
the final three bulleted points signifying why the EU should take
the a lead in organ donation and transplantation.
2 August 2007
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