LTB 517/16 - Organ Donation Week

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LTB 517/16 - Organ Donation Week

No. 517/2016

7 September 2016



Our Ref: C1/16



Organ Donation Week - Campaign Highlights Importance of Becoming a Donor – Please Support The Campaign – Sign Up and Register Today:

To: All Branches



Dear Colleagues,

This week is Organ Donation Week, a campaign to highlight the importance of organ donation and celebrate people who have saved lives.

Branches will have seen the special CWU Website feature on Monday of this week and before that LTB 484/16 which provided extensive details about the urgent need to increase the number of registered Organ Donors and Blood Donors in the UK.

The campaign week runs from 5-11 September 2016 but of course doesn’t end there and is ongoing indefinitely for those whose lives depend on it.

To support it, Royal Mail is applying a special postmark to millions of items of mail nationwide this week. The postmark says: 'Royal Mail supports Organ Donation Week' and directs people to the organ donation website.

Organ Donation Week aims to encourage people to talk about organ donation with their friends and family. Many people support organ donation, but half of adults in England have never talked to anyone about the subject.

Without donors many people wouldn't be here today and it can affect anyone and any family at any time as no one can predict the future in relation to accidents, illnesses and the development of debilitating and fatal medical conditions.

If you'd like to talk about organ donation with your friends and family, or you'd like more information about how to become a donor, visit the organ donation website at: https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The NHS Blood and Transplant Service understands organ donation is a delicate subject for people to bring up with their family, but with their hints and tips, talking about it is easier than you think.

Despite 90 per cent of the public saying they support organ donation only 32 per cent of people are on the register in the UK. This, as well as many other statistics, highlights the great need for something to be done to recruit organ donors throughout the UK.

The NHS Blood and Transplant Service have revealed that nearly 49,000 people in the UK have had to wait for a transplant in the last decade, 6,000 of whom died before receiving a transplant.

Wales

The recent legislative change regarding organ donation in Wales to one of ‘deemed consent’ or ‘opting out’ rather than ‘opting in’ - as remains the law in the rest of the UK is beginning to show good signs.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland the Human Transplant Bill has passed the second stage of the legislative process. As in Wales this Bill moves away from the existing process to one of a soft ‘opt-out’ system or ‘deemed consent’ for organ donation, with appropriate family safeguards, with express consent in certain cases, and the ability for people to nominate advocates to affirm their wishes upon death.

Scotland

In Scotland earlier this year the parliament narrowly rejected Labour MSP Anne McTagart’s private members Transplantation Bill by 59 votes to 56 that would have introduced the soft ‘opt-out’ system. But SNP Public Health Minister Maureen Watt announced her plans to bring forward a government bill next year. 11 SNP backbenchers voted with Labour to support of the Bill and voted against the government but a combination of Tory and Lib.Dem SMPs voted with the government and ensured the Bill’s defeat sadly.

TUC

A motion from the Society of Radiographers goes before the TUC Congress next week calling on the TUC to work with Unions to lobby the UK government and the devolved UK administrations of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales to urgently consider all options that may improve the transplant chances of those waiting for organ donations and to work with NHS Blood and Transplant to support the campaigns in an attempt to increase organ donor numbers.

This week is about raising awareness of the importance of blood and organ donation amongst our membership and we will continue to campaign alongside NHSBT and other organisations to achieve this. We have a diverse membership and we want our members to step forward and help save the lives of others by becoming blood and organ donors. I hope the TUC and other Unions will see what we are doing and follow our lead.

NHSBT/CWU Partnership

NHS Blood and Transplant has welcomed the support of the Communications Workers Union, one of the UK's major Trade Unions and the first Union to do so. NHSBT welcomes the fact that the Union takes the Health, Safety and Wellbeing of its large membership and families very seriously and places such matters high on the agenda.

The CWU annually campaigns to raise awareness and has promoted organ and blood donation to their members since a decision of CWU annual conference some years ago.

The CWU also works jointly with employers to run joint health awareness campaigns of which organ and blood donation is included through their campaigns.

The Health and Safety Department’s campaign is being fully supported by the Equal Opportunities Department to help spread the message of donation across the Union, seeking to promote blood and organ donation amongst our Black and Asian members where only 1.4% of those from these communities are on the Organ Donation Register.

How You Can Help?
We are calling upon all CWU Reps to Register and Sign up this week – After that get members to sign up.

Further Information

Go to the NHSBT Organ Donation Week Website At:- https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/news-a ... tion-week/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
See attached LTB 484/16
Yours sincerely



Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer