Organ donation

About the podcast

Dr Ben Ivory is a consultant working in intensive care ana anaesthetics at Torbay Hospital and is the National Educational Lead for Organ Donation with NHS Blood & Transplant.

Organ transplant can feel like a difficult topic to discuss in the face of what is a devastating time for the families of our patients. Many of us will have little to no experience of this and won’t even know how to approach this. Thankfully, Ben offers reassurance that the resus room is rarely ever the location to do this and really shouldn’t be where these are discussed.

What he does offer us is tips on sign-posting these discussions and an understanding on what we do need to do in these situations, specifically making contact with organ donation services when appropriate. He also covers the types of donors; donation after circulatory death (DCD) and donation after brain-stem death (DBD).

A complex topic which Ben does a fantastic job of putting into context for us. As always, level 1 and 2 learning areas listed in the show notes.

Organ Donation – ThePTN podcast

Dr Ben Ivory ICM and Anaesthetics consultant at Torbay Hospital and National Education Lead for Organ Donation NHS Blood & Transplant | Potential donor types | How, when and where to have the conversation | Role of ICU admission.

Learning areas in this podcast:

Local guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOPs) in respect of Tissue & Organ Donation:

• Identification of potential donors
• Escalation policy
• Contraindications to potential tissue & organ donation
• Awareness of the changes that came into effect in 2020 with regards to organ donation
• Approaching the families of potential organ donors – NHS blood and Transplant (March 2013)
• Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020: A UK strategy – DOH & NHS Blood and transplant (April 2013)
• Can provide support to relatives, carers and friends
• Can recognise own feelings and knows how to access help if required