Kidney consultant backs donor opt-out
Last updated 19:28, Thursday, 27 November 2008
A KIDNEY specialist at the Cumberland Infirmary has joined calls for an opt-out scheme for organ donation.
Dr Mark Boxall, 35, is a consultant nephrologist at the renal unit at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle. The renal unit also covers West Cumbria.
He said: “I think we should have an opt-out system. I want my patients to live for as long as possible with the best quality of life possible.
“That means getting them off dialysis with a kidney transplant, so anything that increases the number of organs available is good.”
Dr Boxall is one of three consultants who work at the unit in Carlisle, and who also operate a satellite unit at the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.
However, the satellite unit can only dialyse a maximum of 28 patients in any one week, and the sicker patients tend to go to Carlisle where there is a full-time nursing staff.
Dr Boxall said: “I get to see my patients once a week if I can. I look after anyone with any impairment of kidney function. They might have kidney disease, or be approaching or on dialysis.
“I also look after anyone who is on the waiting list, or who has had a transplant.
“The unit as a whole has 40 to 50 patients on the transplant list, and over 100 people who have had transplants.”
Dr Boxall has worked at the unit since last April, but some of the patients have been having treatment there for more than 15 years.
Many started attending the unit before they needed dialysis, and have now had transplants and are attending for regular check-ups.
Dr Boxall feels that one of the most important areas for organ donation is the family and friends of would-be recipients.
He said: “The number of patients that are actually getting kidneys from relatives and friends is getting higher and higher.
“From our point of view that is a good thing. If we can tell people prior to going on dialysis that they are going to need a transplant at some point, they may be more willing when the time comes.”
This kind of donation is known as ‘living donation’ and one of the reasons for its increase is that fewer people are dying in road crashes, which was previously a main source of donated organs.
He added: “Living donation of a kidney is possible in almost all cases.
“There are only a small number of people that can’t have it, medically speaking.
“The difficulty is finding relatives who are willing and are in good enough health.”
Some patients may not be able to receive a donor organ due to genetic illness, although this is rare.
There is also a proportion of people who cannot have a transplant due to the risk that they may not survive an operation.
Dr Boxall is concerned that not everyone who could donate an organ is doing so and that more of his patients could be receiving help.
“People are being missed,” he said.
“There are people that have organs they could donate, but families are being asked who aren’t aware of the situation and they say no.
“It isn’t the sort of conversation that you have with your parents.
“Even in our area, there is no doubt people live longer if they have a transplant, even if they live on dialysis. I would absolutely tell everyone to sign up.”
