Bradford Teaching Hospitals is using light to help save lives by turning the Bradford Royal Infirmary pink in support of Organ Donation Week, September 26-October 2.
Councils, business, hospitals and community groups around the country are turning their buildings pink, which is the colour of the country’s ‘Yes I Donate’ organ donation campaign, to inspire people to tell their families that they want to be a donor and to register their decision.
Nationally, someone dies every day in need of an organ, and there are almost 7,000 people currently on the active transplant waiting list.
There are currently more than 30 million people in the UK who have registered their organ donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register with more than 27 million of them explicitly agreeing to be an organ donor when they die, but this still only represents around 44% of the UK population.
Even though the law around organ donation has now changed to an ‘opt out’ system across England, Scotland and Wales, family members will still always be involved before organ donation goes ahead. This means it is just as important as ever to register your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and ensure your friends and family know what you want and will support your decision.
Karen Piotr, Chairperson of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Organ Donation Committee said:
Bradford Royal Infirmary will look fabulous and I am sure hundreds of people going past will ask questions.
Sadly, many opportunities are lost every year in Bradford and around the country because families don’t know if their loved one wanted to be a donor or not.
While Clinical Lead for Organ Donation at Bradford Teaching Hospitals, Intensive Care Consultant, Dr James Morgan, added:
I would urge people across the district to sit down with their relatives and have this conversation as soon as possible. Leave your friends and family certain as to what your wishes are. One donor can save the lives of many.
Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation for NHS Blood and Transplant said:
It’s brilliant of Bradford Teaching Hospitals to show its support for Organ Donation Week. The modern organ donor card is pink, and it certainly gets conversations going.
We need people in Bradford to not only talk to their families about organ donation, but to register their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register. This could be the difference between life and death for someone else.
Register your donation decision at www.organdonation.nhs.uk