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New clinical head of organ donation for NHS Blood and Transplant
NHS Blood and Transplant has appointed Dale Gardiner as the UK’s new national Clinical Lead for Organ Donation.
Dale is a Consultant in Adult Intensive Care Medicine at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and was previously the UK’s Deputy National Clinical Lead for Organ Donation.
Dale comes previously held by Paul Murphy, who has retired after helping to transform organ donation in the UK. Last year, there were 1575 deceased organ donors in the UK, the highest ever number.
Dale’s interest in ethics, the diagnosis of death, and organ donation led to him becoming a Clinical Lead in Organ Donation at Nottingham in 2009 and then progressing within NHS Blood and Transplant into roles of increasing responsibility.
Dales other work includes serving for four years as a member of the UK Donation Ethics Committee until its closure in 2016.
Together with colleagues from Nottingham University Hospitals, he runs a multidisciplinary organ donation simulation course, which he adapted and launched as a new national course for intensive care trainees.
Dale said: “The improvements to organ donation in the UK have been an incredibly success, probably the biggest improvements in any NHS field over the last few years.
“Donation has gone from being unusual to usual. The next step is to make organ donation expected.
“Part of that will involve working within potentially new legislative frameworks with ‘opt out’ systems proposed for England and Scotland.
“We’ll be continuing to work with hospitals to ensure no opportunity to donate is missed.
“What I really want to build on is the sense of pride in donation. That organ donation is something society, donors and their families, and the doctors and nurses delivering care, are all proud to be part of.
“The thing I am most proud of, from my work with NHS Blood and Transplant, is leading the creation of the Order of St John Awards for Organ Donation. These awards are now held annually around the UK and they honour deceased donors.
“Because for me, the most humbling moments of my career remain those times when a family looks beyond their grief and says that simple word ‘yes’ to organ donation.”
Tell your family you want to donate and then join the NHS Organ Donor Register at www.organdonation.nhs.uk