The numbers on organ donation
Andy Tookey has passed on an OIA response from Organ Donation NZ. It is an interesting over-view of ICU deaths and organ donations in NZ.
The data reveals:
- 1,123 deaths in ICUs
- 367 deaths where organ donation was possible (on a ventilator with sever brain damage)
- 135 deaths where organ donation was formally discussed
- 53 families agreed to donate
So there are two ways to increase the donation rate (well apart from increasing the number of deaths in ICU). They are:
- Increase the proportion of deaths where organ donation is formally discussed
- Increase the proportion of cases where it is agreed to after discussion
Only 37% of ICU deaths (135/367) had a formal discussion. I’m curious as to why that isn’t 90% or more.
Of those where there was a discussion, 61% of families said no. That is a high refusal rate (UK is aiming for 16% refusal rate) and to my mind reinforces why the decision should be the deceased’s, not the families.