JR helps give organ donation message a much needed lift

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is working with NHS Blood and Transplant to promote organ donation to all its staff, patients, and visitors.

The doors to the main lifts on Level 2 of the John Radcliffe Hospital have been covered with promotional messages urging people to sign up to be an organ donor.

There are 75 people currently in Oxfordshire who need a lifesaving organ transplant. They need people to say yes to donation so they can get the organ they so desperately need.

The Oxford hospital is promoting organ donation in the hope that it will make people think about it while waiting for the lift, and then go on to register.

This would hopefully open the door to more people getting the transplants they need.

Over the past year, 91 people in Oxfordshire have had their lives saved or transformed thanks to deceased organ donors from across the UK.

However, three people a day still die waiting for a transplant due to the shortage of people willing to donate organs.

Eight in 10 people agree it is important to tell those closest to us our views about organ donation after death, but only a third say their family knows their wishes about organ donation.

Rory Collier, a Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation at the Trust, said: "Organ donation saves lives and one organ donor can save or transform up to nine lives, and even more by donating tissue as well.

"I know that more families agree to donation if they know their loved one was on the Organ Donor Register.

"Save your family from having to guess what you would have wanted - join the NHS Organ Donor Register and let your family know your decision.

"One day it could be someone you love in need of a transplant."

Dr Mark Sullivan, Clinical Director for Renal, Transplant, and Urology at the Trust, said: "We are delighted to be promoting organ donation on the doors of some of the lifts within the hospital.

"Transplants save lives and are only possible if people are willing to donate.

"Every single hospital in the UK will be in a town or city where there are patients waiting for a transplant, and we hope this initiative will prompt our employees, patients, and visitors to the hospital to think about organ donation and to commit to save lives by signing up to the NHS Organ Donor Register."

Sign up today at www.organdonation.nhs.uk and let your friends and family know you want to help others after your death.

Pictured: Rory Collier, Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation, with a lift wrap at the John Radcliffe Hospital.