National Transplant Week

Did you know that this years National Transplant Week is 4th to 10th July and NHS Blood and Transplant are calling on the UK public to reduce the waiting times for a transplant by signing up to the NHS Organ Donation register.

Currently there are 10,000 people waiting for an organ transplant accross the UK. Think how frustrated you get waiting for a parcel delivery or waiting in a queue. Then imagine if you were actually waiting for something that your life depended on! So for Transplant Week 2011 the campaign asks 'What Are You Waiting For?' to highlight the plight of those currently on the waiting list.

Facts and Figures:
* More than 10,000 people are currently waiting for a transplant in the UK
* On average, 3 people who need a transplant will die each day in the UK
* Waiting times for transplants are high because we don't have nearly enough donors
* It's easy to sign up to the Organ Donor Register, just visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk / or call 0300 123 23 23
* Once you've signed up, you need to make your wishes known to your friends and family

Here in the North East we are extremely lucky to have such a fantastic facility as the Freeman Hospital. The Freeman has a well-deserved reputation for the quality of its facilities and we take great care to ensure you are treated in a clean, modern, and friendly environment. But what really sets the hospital apart, and has earned them an international reputation, is their pioneering expertise in transplant surgery for both adults and children. In 1987 they performed the UK’s first successful heart transplant for a child at the Freeman hospital. They are one of Europe’s leading lung transplant centres, having performed both the first single lung transplant and the first double lung transplant in Europe. And they continue to innovate, introducing a “mechanical heart” service in 2003, keeping adults and children alive until a suitable donor heart is available.

Recently, the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT) called for the closure of four, and possibly five, of the existing 11 units carrying out paediatric cardiac surgery to maintain patient safety. This has seen MPs in other regions aiming to secure their services, potentially at the cost of those in Newcastle.

Only one of the four options put forward by this review would see these services ending at the Freeman. But Newcastle East MP Nick Brown has tabled a parliamentary motion urging the Government to only act on medical advice, and not bow to arguments made by coalition MPs.

What Can you do to help?

• Sign up for the National Organ Donor Register
• Tell family and friends
• Donate to the Freeman Hospital or carry out fundraising activities
• Write to your MP
• Share your stories - have you received treatment at the Freeman?
• Facebook have set up a page to help, To view the page, click here

We need to shout loud, that the Freeman Children's Heart Unit keeps operating.