Katharine House Hospice has been named as one of the top performing hospices in the country for cornea donation, as part of an ongoing initiative by NHS Blood and Transplant to enable more people to donate their corneas upon their death.
The project is about encouraging patients in hospice care to consider donating their corneas, which are currently in shortage across the country – over 3,500 people are currently waiting for a cornea transplant. Corneas are a clear outer layer of tissue at the front of the eye which lets in light and transplants help restore the sight of patients with a variety of sight conditions.
The work between NHS Blood and Transplant and the hospice team was celebrated at a private event at the hospice on Wednesday 25 March, complete with a homemade eye-themed cake from the hospice’s catering team. The event included special recognition for Hayley White, Ward Administrator at Katharine House Hospice, who was presented with an award for her dedication to the initiative.
Lizzie Partridge, Tissue Donation Nurse Specialist at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “’It has been an absolute pleasure to work in partnership with the team at Katharine House Hospice to normalise eye donation conversations, as part of advance care planning discussions. The dedication and commitment of the whole team has been remarkable, empowering patients to make the donation decision that is right for them. This has had a real impact on the number of corneas that have been donated.
“Cornea donation is really quite special and by making the decision to donate, patients at Katharine House – and at all hospices involved in this initiative and in hospitals across the country – are giving the gift of sight to many. Donation is an act of huge generosity that can have an extraordinary impact, we cannot thank all our donors and their families enough.
“We encourage everybody to think about their organ and tissue donation decision and register it on the NHS Organ Donor Register.”
Jodie Frost, Specialty Doctor who has led the project at Katharine House Hospice, said: “Many of our patients and families have assumed that they aren’t able to donate anything after death, due to their diagnosis. Although cornea donation has criteria to adhere to, many more people can give this wonderful gift than realised. Conditions such as cancer, for instance, are not a contra-indication for corneal donation.
“I am so proud of the wonderful work that the Katharine House team have put in to make these conversations become part of our daily care for patients and loved ones. The project has had fantastic support and oversight from Dr Victoria Hedges, Palliative Care Consultant, and the ward team have put in such hard work for us to achieve this. All the team have gone above and beyond but to see Hayley be recognised personally with an award at the event is a fantastic reflection of someone who gives so much time and dedication to make all of this work.
“The decision to donate is a brave and beautiful gift to another human being. We have been taken back by the generosity of our patients here at Katharine House and we send heartfelt thanks to them and their families.”
For more information and to register your organ and tissue donation decision, visit organdonation.nhs.uk
For information about tissue donation at Katharine House, go to khh.org.uk and search for ‘tissue donation’
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Image caption: Pictured, from left to right: Jodie Frost, Hayley White, Lizzie Partridge and Stuart Oliver.
About Katharine House Hospice
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-Katharine House Hospice is an adult hospice which opened in 1991 and provides personalised, specialist
palliative care, free of charge, to adults and their families who are dealing with a life-limiting illness. -
The hospice considers the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of its patients, operating a range of holistic services including inpatient care, community care, wellbeing services, social care, physiotherapy and lymphoedema services, helping people make the most of the time they have left with their loved ones.
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The hospice cares for around 1,200 each year from north Oxfordshire and south Northamptonshire. Main areas supported by Katharine House include areas and villages around Banbury, Bicester, Brackley, Byfield, Chipping Norton, Priors Marston, Shipston-on-Stour, Woodford Halse.
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Katharine House, working in partnership with Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, cares for people at the hospice, in their own homes, in care homes and in hospital.
About the NHS Organ Donor Register
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It is quick and easy to register your donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register. Call 0300 123 23 23 or visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk
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Families are always involved in organ and tissue donation discussions. You can make things easier for your family by telling them you want this to happen
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Anyone can join the NHS Organ Donor Register; age and medical conditions are not necessarily a barrier to donation, especially for tissue donation
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One donor can save or transform up to nine lives through organ donation and save and transform many more by donating tissue.
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