Senior physician appointed to boost low organ donation rates

3/4/04
The State Government today announced plans to dramatically increase life-saving organ donations in Western Australia through an innovative program to be trialled at one of the State's major hospitals.
In an Australian first, a senior physician will be appointed to work at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital as Medical Donor Co-ordinator, identifying potential organ and tissue donors and consulting directly with patients and their families.
Health Minister Jim McGinty said the initiative was based on a radical model developed in Spain, which had seen organ donation rates increase to 35 per million of population.
WA's current organ donor rate is just seven to nine per million.
The Medical Donor Co-ordinator would identify potential donors as early as possible in their hospital stay and ensure the wishes of patients and their families were fulfilled.
Mr McGinty announced the appointment of Dr Harry Moody, a respected renal physician, as the first Medical Donor Co-ordinator.
He said the initiative had the potential to lift organ donation rates in WA by up to 100 per cent.
There are presently 1,842 people waiting for life-saving transplants in Australia, with current donation rates in WA low by both national and international standards.
Across Australia, there were 179 organ donors last year, resulting in 619 organ transplants.
In WA there were just 18 organ donors.
While WA has nearly 640,000 people registered as donors on the Australian Donor Register, this has not translated into actual donations.
Mr McGinty said Dr Moody would work closely with DonateWest, the State agency that promotes organ and tissue donation.
If the initiative was successful, similar appointments might be considered in other hospitals.
Every possible step would be taken to ensure the families of donors received compassionate and appropriate support during and after their decision.
Dr Moody said he believed his new position would help ensure that people who were willing were given the opportunity to donate.
Both Dr Moody and Mr McGinty acknowledged the work done by Paul Andrews MLA, who had studied the Spanish Model of organ donation and had been a driving force in developing the WA initiative.
"The organ donation rate of a country is one measure of the altruism of its population," Dr Moody said.
"I would like to see WA become a shining example by ensuring that opportunities for donation are not missed and that every potential donor family is given the chance of making that difficult but vital decision."
Dr Moody, who graduated from the University of WA, has extensive experience in transplantation and renal disease in both Canada and Australia.
He will take up the appointment this month.
Minister's office: 9220 5000