Scottish Donation and Transplant Group written update: March 2023

NHSBT update

Update given by:

• Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT

Dr Jo Farrar has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of NHSBT. Dr Farrar is an experienced senior leader having held Chief Executive roles at HM Prison & Probation Service and Bridgend and Bath and North Somerset Councils before being appointed the Second Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice from where she will join NHSBT. Prior to Dr Farrar joining on 01 June NHSBT will continue to be led by Wendy Clark as Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

With regards to NHS Industrial Action, the Royal College of Nursing undertook a first phase of strike action in December in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Members in England then took strike action again in January and February. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland have issued a statement indicating that ongoing negotiations with the Scottish Government have meant that strike action in Scotland has not yet been called. UNISON Scotland has also recommended to members that they accept an offer of at least 6.5% increase on pay as well as a 1.5% one-off payment. Currently plans for UNISON members, including NHSBT members, to strike on 08 March in England are still in place.

In the first three quarters of 2022/23 there has been a total of seventy-eight deceased organ donors from Hospitals or Boards in Scotland; 43 Donation after Brain Death (DBD) donors and 35 Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD). In the same period there were 69 Living donors. The number of patients currently active on the Transplant Waiting List in Scotland stands at 529, up from the 508 active at the end of 21/22. The breakdown of deceased organ donor transplants is as follows: 108, 14 kidney/pancreas, 6 Islets, 33 Hearts, 5 Lungs, 58 Livers, and 2 Intestinal.

On 04 March 2021 there were 2,914,130 people residing in the Scotland postcode area on the UK Organ Donor Register. This is 53% of the Scottish population.

175.081 citizens in Scotland have a recorded Opt-Out decision, this is 3% of the Scottish population.

The 2023 Joint Annual Congress of the British Transplantation Society (BTS) and NHSBT will be taking place from 01 to 03 March at Edinburgh International Conference Centre. The theme for Congress is ‘Time to Connect.’ This will be the first face to face BTS/NHSBT Congress since 2019 and will bring Donation and Transplantation professionals from across the UK to Edinburgh to share clinical, scientific, and pastoral expertise, sharing best practice and inspiring colleagues. A report on Congress will follow in the next SDTG report.

On a corporate level, NHSBT has just been announced as one of the UK’s top 100 LGBTQ+ employers as part of Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index. Our organisation has also received the Gold Award, Stonewall’s top rating for those employers who maintain the highest standard of LGBTQ+ inclusivity at work. NHSBT has been recognised as being the twelfth most inclusive employer in the UK health sector.