Hull Royal Infirmary is to fly its organ donation flag to mark when a life-saving donation has been made.
Helen Russell, Joanna Pancarowicz, Janine Tate and Jane Langley, all Specialist Nurses in Organ Donation, have arranged for the flag to be flown outside the main entrance to the hospital when a family agrees to organ donation on behalf of their loved one.
Seventeen families have consented to organ donation since April last year after their relatives were declared brain dead or following their death from cardiac arrest, known as a non-heartbeating donation, at Hull Royal Infirmary.
Helen said: “Flying the flag is a sign to the public that something very special is happening inside our hospital, that some family is giving another person the gift of life.
“It’s our way of honouring the patient who has made their wishes known to their relatives that they wish to donate their organs in the event of their death and it’s a way of saying thank you to their family.”
One family has already seen the flag flying over the hospital following their agreement to organ donation following the death of their loved one in the past few weeks.
Helen said: “They told us it brought them comfort and they were able to share photographs of the flag with other members of their family who could not be at hospital.”
Joanna said the team hoped flying the flag would encourage members of the public to sign the Organ Donor register and share their wishes with their families, should their life be cut short.
She said: “It can be difficult to raise the subject but having that conversation now means you’ll save your family to ordeal of having to make that decision when they’re coping with the trauma of your death.”
Across Yorkshire, 373 patients received a life-saving or life-changing transplant in 2023/4.
More than 100,000 transplants have been carried out since the creation of the Organ Donor Register in 1994. However, the waiting list for a transplant is currently the highest it’s been in an decade, with more than 7,900 people in the UK waiting for the call.
If you’d like to help, join the register and tell your family of your wishes so it’s easier for them in the event of your death.
