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Unprecedented run of Renal Transplants underscores vital importance of organ donors
Wellington Hospital has just finished its busiest week ever for renal transplants – with 7 patients receiving a kidney in the space of 6 days. The week included a single 24 hour period where 4 patients received kidneys.
Dr Grant Pidgeon, Clinical Leader of Renal Services, says in recent years Wellington Hospital has done between 16 and 25 renal transplants a year.
"Clearly doing 7 transplants in a week is exceptional, and that has enabled us to bring the total number of patients who have receiving renal transplants thus far in 2008 to 34," Dr Pidgeon says.
The Chief Executive of Capital & Coast DHB, Ken Whelan, says departments and services across the hospital worked together phenomenally well to enable the four transplants to occur in one day. “Renal Services pulled it all together, with huge amounts of input from surgeons, anaesthetists, theatre staff, perioperative staff radiographers, laboratory staff, ward nursing and medical staff and many others.
“The fact we had surgeons operating until 3 o’clock in the morning to complete the fourth transplant in that 24 hour period shows the level of dedication and expertise on display.”
“I’m enormously proud of the work our teams did,” Mr Whelan says. “Working together produced a spectacular result.
Grant Pidgeon says the main factor limiting the number of renal transplants which can be performed is the availability of donor organs.
“In the past most transplants were deceased donor transplants,” Dr Pidgeon says, “but donor rates in New Zealand have fallen to very low levels. These days most of our transplants are from living donors but sadly many of our patients on the waiting list have no suitable live donor”
“Of course in each case where a deceased donor is involved there is a family which has suffered the loss of a loved one, and we do feel profoundly for them. We hope they can take a small measure of comfort in the fact the organs they have agreed to donate can make a profound difference for those who receive them – giving the recipients a new lease of life, and in many cases decades of productive life which they might otherwise not have experienced.
“You can see how important this gift is from the way our team and this hospital moved heaven and earth in the last week to make use of every available kidney. We did everything we could to ensure that we could accept all the kidneys which were offered for our patients.
“My hope is that more people give serious consideration to being an organ donor and make sure they discuss this with their families,” Dr Pidgeon says.