State-wide organ donation project of Western Australia

Teik Oh¹, Bruce Powell¹

¹DonateLife WA, Perth, Australia

The OTA Australia identified six strategic priorities.  DonateLife WA embarked on a project to implement the first: Develop a clinical governance framework to support and guide DonateLife Network staff in the provision of quality organ and tissue donation services within the broader health system.

SWOT analysis explored possibilities for new initiatives, and a plan, the “State-wide Organ Donation Project” was conceived.  This parent project begets projects (below) to be developed, all with one goal - to improve organ donation services in WA.

Projects

A framework of the process state-wide, agreed to by all key stakeholders, standardises and clarifies step-by-step interactions to improve communications, ownership, and responsibilities, thus minimising misunderstandings and subsequent loss of organ donation opportunities.

Organ donation is relevant to all health sectors in the State but only three major metropolitan hospitals undertake organ retrieval. Engagement of regional general hospitals in the State to retrieve organs will benefit the donation rate and engage health care professionals outside the metropolitan area.

Collaboration with community groups in partnerships in fund raising, education, and PR ventures aims to increase public awareness of organ donation and raise funds for projects to be undertaken.

Although all health professionals support organ donation, the support is not comprehensive.  Engagement of key medical professionals with closer ties to DonateLife WA, is envisaged with a Council of Experts that is a resource to promote clinical interactions.  More frequent workshops related to Medical ADAPT are intended to inform junior ICU and ED doctors about the importance of organ donation.

Desirable outcomes are increased involvement of regional centres and Teaching Hospital doctors, increased referral and consent rates, improved awareness of organ donation in the WA community, and better data capture.