It’s Organ Donation Week from 23-29 September, a time to reflect on what it means to give the gift of life to someone else.

To find out what’s happening with organ donation at the Royal Devon, we sat down for a chat with Kathryn Somers (pictured left), Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation, and Bridie Kent (pictured right), Non-Executive Director at the Royal Devon and Chair of our Organ Donation Committees.

Why did you want to get involved in organ donation work?

Kathryn – organ donation incorporates my two passions of intensive care and end of life care. I loved being a nurse on an intensive care unit (ICU), providing one-to-one care to patients. Something I learned as an ICU nurse was that you can only become an organ donor in ICU, due to the need for a controlled clinical environment, so that the body has all the oxygen it needs. This means, incredibly, that only 1% of the population die in a circumstance where you can actually donate an organ.

My other passion is about good end of life care. The two biggest things that happen in our lives are entering this world and leaving it, and I don’t think we always give that second event as much focus as the first. We’ve got one chance to get it right, so we’ve got to think about it and talk about what we would want to happen, so that we can do our best by each other.

Bridie – organ donation has been dear to my heart for a long time. Like Kathryn I’m also an intensive care nurse by background, and I’ve been nursing for over 40 years. I remember being a junior nurse on ICU and it was in my first six months I came across organ donation – a young lad in a car accident. The thing that has stuck with me is that the events leading up to organ donation are always so tragic, it’s never anything pleasant that requires people to be in ICU. Organ donation can be the one good thing to come out of truly tragic situations. I can remember every single organ donor and their families throughout my career, they make such an impression.

What is your role in supporting organ donation at the Royal Devon?

Kathryn – every hospital with an ICU has a specialist nurse for organ donation (or SNOD!). For the Royal Devon, that’s myself and Lauren Jackson.

For patients in ICU who we sadly know are going to die, one of the consultants or nurses will ask us if we think we can offer organ donation. We assess the patient’s suitability and check the donor register to see if they have registered their wishes about organ donation. At the right time, we’ll talk to the patient’s family about organ donation and what they think their loved one would want to happen. If there is agreement to proceed, we support the patient and their family through the donation process.

Bridie – I’m chair of the Trust’s Organ Donation Committees. We have two committees because we have two ICUs, one at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (Wonford) and one at North Devon District Hospital.

The committee reviews the unit’s performance relating to organ donation, identifies any learnings, education needs of staff, and looks at how we can promote organ donation across the Trust and more widely.

What's happening at the Royal Devon regarding organ donation?

Kathryn – we have just completed an audit we do each year to check whether anyone who could have donated was given the opportunity. It’s ok for people to say no of course, but it’s your right to be offered organ donation, in the same way that we offer religious support and other wishes at the end of life. In 2023/24 across the Trust, nine patients donated organs and that resulted in 25 patients receiving a life-saving implant. That’s 25 families who have their loved one back, 25 employers who have their employee back, and 25 hospital beds made available for other patients.

Bridie – our committees are looking at how we can remember and acknowledge the donor families and patients for their amazing gift. A lot of hospitals have some kind of memorial, and although its very early days, we’re looking at what we could do at the Royal Devon.

As its Organ Donation Week, I will be raising awareness of organ donation with my colleagues who sit at Board level, I highlight it at every opportunity. Some of our ICU nurses have organised a run from Exeter station to Exmouth to raise awareness. Look out for them on Monday 23 September, they’ll all be dressed in pink!

Each ICU needs to have a clinical lead for organ donation, and we’re currently working on appointing new leads for both our ICUs. Our clinical lead at RD&E, Emily Howells, has just been appointed as regional lead for education, so she will be teaching other consultants across the region to look after donors safely. We’ll miss her, but it’s fantastic that she can help so many other people with organ donation. We need the right people in these roles, so I’m really focused on this.

What's the one thing you'd like everyone to know about organ donation?

Kathryn - There are hundreds of things I’d want people to know! I think one thing is that it is so humbling to work with these patients and their families. These people are invariably facing a tragic situation and are grappling with catastrophic news, often about a partner or a child who had many years of life ahead of them. Organ donation is sometimes the only thing we can do to make something positive come out of it, a legacy that families can take comfort from. That people are willing to do this is so humbling to see.

Bridie – Hopefully a lot of people know by now that the law changed in 2020, and we are now an opt-out country. That’s a soft law – people are never forced into it and next of kin have the final say. Even with that change, registering your wish is the most important thing you can do. It takes two minutes online to make your wishes clear, and if you end up being one of that 1%, it can take some of the pressure off of your loved ones.

Even if you don’t register, please talk to people and tell them what your wishes are. Back when I was doing a PhD I was looking into organ donation, looking at people’s reactions to the conversation and I found that most people don’t mind at all. The conversation is so important for getting it right at the end of life.