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

2. 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

3. 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)

4. 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

5. 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

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

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

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

9. 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

10. 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

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

12. Reporting channels
Why do these matter?
Frequency of reporting?

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

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

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

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