'My father's opportunity to donate was missed'

THE NHS is introducing new training to ensure tissue and eye donation is not overlooked in the end-of-life care process.

- By DEBORAH HALL

It comes as one man saw his father’s donor card wishes unfulfilled after he died at Scunthorpe General Hospital last year.

Glen's dad, Gordon, died on a medical ward at the hospital and had previously expressed a wish to donate his tissue and corneas when he died.

The family made his wishes known to hospital staff during his final hours and presented them with Gordon’s donor card. Sadly, due to a lack of understanding of the referral process, donation was not possible.

Glen said: “It was the very unfortunate lack of awareness across those providing the end-of-life care, as well as the misunderstanding around the different types of donations, that ultimately meant my father’s opportunity to donate was missed.

“After the event, the staff on the ward expressed to me that they simply didn’t know the correct procedure, and were confused by the terminology, when presented with a donor card.

“It is therefore crucial that awareness is raised among both healthcare workers, and the public who rely upon those staff at such a difficult time, to ensure that this cannot happen again.”

This Dying Matters Awareness Week (May 5 to 11), NHS Blood and Transplant is calling on healthcare professionals and the public to ensure tissue and eye donation is an integral part of end-of-life care planning.

Last year, 3,529 people in England had their sight restored through corneal transplants.

However, there is still an urgent need for more people to donate their corneas as currently around 6,000 patients wait for corneal transplants with an average wait time of around 18 months.