Chair Induction Running an effective Donation Committee Amanda Gibbon Donation Committee Chair, University College London Hospitals

Aims of the Session To identify what is required to be an effective donation committee To establish what success looks like To discuss some common problems and share solutions

Role of the Donation Committee “The role of the Donation Committee, and the person who chairs it, is as central as it is simple: to see that donation becomes part of the business of the acute hospital, to support the individuals who are key to it, and to use the available data to drive improvements in practice.” NHSBT: Donation Committee – Information for Committee Chairs (2009)

How do we measure success? …Statistically… As close to 100% as possible on: timely referral rates brain stem death testing rates planned collaborative approaches Improving trend in consent rates Percentage on the ODR

How do we measure success? …Softer measures… Well attended meetings Good contributions from all members Sense of buy-in amongst committee members and in wider hospital staff community Shared approach to problem solving When issues arise committee is first port of call and is engaged rather than by-passed Profile of donation committee and its work within the trust or health board Awareness of organ donation in the local community

Getting the framework right Right membership Right information…at the right time Right agenda Right frequency of meetings Right reporting channels

Membership Include representatives of all those areas of the hospital with whom the committee needs to develop “functional relationships”

Membership CLOD & SNOD Clinical representation - intensive care, ED, anaesthesia and nursing Donor families Theatres Mortuary Chaplaincy Communications department Tissue retrieval Finance? Any others?

Information What information does the Committee and/or the Chair need? Who needs to provide this information? What format should it be in? Any information on which the committee relies must be accurate, reliable and timely Numbers involved are very small so mistakes tend to be significant Important that judgments made by committee are based on sound data

The Agenda How is this developed? As a team or by particular individuals? Why should chairs be involved? Core items – PDA, training, tissue donation, communications, clinical governance One off items – how and why are these chosen? Involving ‘outlying’ members of the committee

Frequency of meetings Consensus = quarterly Sub group meetings in between – good way of getting specific pieces of work done and also involving committee ‘outliers’

Reporting channels Why do these matter? Frequency of reporting?

What can the chair expect of others? SNOD CLOD The Trust NHSBT Any others?

What can others expect of the Chair? SNOD CLOD The Trust NHSBT Any others?

Between committee meetings How much involvement should the Chair have in what goes on between committee meetings? What form should this involvement take?

Some common problems… Low attendance Actions not followed through Badly prepared or poor presentations One person dominating the business of the committee