SEE YOU ON 12 JANUARY 2008

To mark the work of the CAMPAIGN a rally is taking place in Swansea chaired by Allison John.

Please register by e mailing Allison on allison@kidneywales.com

A number of speakers will attend and the results of the Campaigning discussed to take matters forward.


Venue is Village Hotel Swansea.Start is 9 30am for coffee.

THE news that a specialist kidney transplant unit will be developed in the capital is a fantastic boost for patients. - icWales

THE news that a specialist kidney transplant unit will be developed in the capital is a fantastic boost for patients. - icWales


THE news that a specialist kidney transplant unit will be developed in the capital is a fantastic boost for patients.
Dec 29 2007 by Gavin O'Connor, South Wales Echo

For far too long there have been claims that Wales was being left behind in the pioneering field due to a lack of modern facilities.

So it is only right the nation’s biggest hospital has departments such as this, going some way to ensuring world-class healthcare is provided here.

The 21-bed facility will lead to nearly 200 operations being carried out each year. The estimated cost of the new department, at more than £4m, sounds a lot. But there can be no price tag too great put on a person’s health.

TRANSPLANT UNIT SUCCESS - PRAISE FOR ALL AND NOW WE NEED THIS TO BE WORLD CLASS

The News yesterday that a dedicated Transplant Unit is now announced is great news and we pay tribute to the Minister for Health Edwina Hart and the health professionals to achieve this key objective of our Campaign.

Everyone has been working hard to acheieve this in recent months and we now have a great opportunity of creating world class facility.

The Business Justification Case (BJC) for the Development of a Renal Transplant Centre at UHW received Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust Board approval at its meeting on 6th December 2007. The BJC has also been cleared by Health Commission Wales, South East Wales Regional Office and the Capital, Estates and Facilities Branch of the Department of Health and Social Services.

The BJC demonstrates that the development of a Transplant Centre is the only viable solution for the continuation of this service which would comprise 21 transplant and chronic renal failure surgical beds, (11 new beds and 10 beds transferred from ward B5, UHW) and associated renal outpatient facilities. This development is needed to overcome both capacity and environmental issues and also to meet the standards of care included in guidance in the Renal National Service Framework (NSF).

The needs assessment analysis indicates a 10 – 15% annual growth in activity and shows that the Trust is unable to provide a clinically effective and viable service within its existing facilities given this growth in demand along with the advent of new treatments which will enable more people to become eligible for transplants over the next few years.

The preferred option identified in the BJC is to develop a Renal Transplant Centre, including co-located outpatient facilities located on two floors of a tower block (Tower Block 3) to be constructed above the current PET development, at UHW. The Trust has contracted to build the seven floor Tower Block 3, plus basement, of which PET currently accounts for the basement, ground and first floors. The PET element of the building work is funded by the Assembly Government.
The Trust is proposing to locate the Renal Transplant Unit on floors 2 and 3 thereby providing excellent clinical adjacencies to existing renal services. These floors will also be funded by the Assembly Government. Proceeding as an extension to the existing PET contract represents a highly cost effective solution.

This would realise a number of benefits in relation to increased capacity and an enhanced environment as the accommodation would be designed to modern standards with an appropriate percentage of single en-suite rooms to assist with the prevention of infection and to meet patient expectations in regard to privacy and dignity.

This option would also ensure the reputation of renal transplant services as a ‘Centre of Excellence’ and would support the consolidation and expansion of both tertiary and local provision so that a transplant service can be offered to patients on an all Wales basis.

Whilst the preferred option offers a cost effective solution in terms of time and cost, the construction period for the completion of the works cannot be undertaken in less than 22 months. As additional capacity is required as soon as possible the BJC outlines transitional arrangements to support the service until the final option can be fully implemented.

The first phase proposes that a 4 bed ward is created in accommodation not currently utilised on the UHW site to provide capacity for haemodialysis patients currently accommodated on Ward B5. This would then create additional transplant and renal surgery capacity and would allow for up to 115 transplants per year. These beds could be available by March/April 2008. The revenue cost for this is £2.41million

During the period 2010/12 the Trust would undertake up to 140 transplants per year and this would be Phase 2 of the development. This phase would require 16 beds and the revenue cost would be £4.40million.

Phase 3 would require the full 21 beds to be available by 2012 and would allow for up to 160 transplants per year at a revenue cost of £5.85million.

The capital cost for the development is £4.27million.
renal facilities in Wales.

Transplant unit given the go-ahead - icWales

Transplant unit given the go-ahead - icWales

Transplant unit given the go-ahead

by Ben Glaze, South Wales Echo


Transplant unit given the go-ahead

A SPECIALIST kidney transplant unit for Wales’ biggest hospital has been given the go-ahead.

Plans for the Renal Transplant Centre at the University Hospital of Wales, Heath, Cardiff, have received the backing of various health bodies and will lead to a 21-bed, £4.27m department.

Experts believe demand for kidney transplants in the Welsh capital could soar by up to 15 per cent a year and the existing unit would be unable cope.

New treatments mean more and more victims will be eligible for transplants and the new unit could be up and running in two years.

Floors two and three of a seven-storey tower block will house the new department, which medics believe could perform 160 operations a year by 2012.

Last year 89 were carried out in Wales and there are currently about 400 people waiting for operations.

Cardiff medical student Allison John, 29, is an ambassador for Kidney Wales Foundation and has received heart, lung and kidney transplants.

She said today: “This is fantastic news. We want to make Wales a world-class provider of healthcare and we desperately need somewhere that can do this.

“Now we are going to get it, it will mean great benefits not just for existing kidney patients, but for those who need transplants and those who have had them, because of the improved aftercare.

“All our campaigning has finally paid off and this is a great Christmas present for kidney patients.”

Earlier this year, Professor John Salaman, who pioneered kidney transplants in Cardiff more than 30 years ago, branded the lack of a dedicated kidney transplant in Wales “shameful”.

He said: “Elsewhere in the UK and Europe, major hospitals have their own stand-alone transplant units.

“Wales deserves to have one and must not get left behind.

“It is shameful Wales still does not have a dedicated transplant unit and staffing may become a problem in the future with competition from other parts of the country.”

A spokesman for the Welsh Assembly Government said: “This enhanced facility will mean that greater numbers of patients will be able to get this vital treatment locally, allowing family and friends to visit them which will help aid recovery.

“More than £4.2m will be made available from the All-Wales Capital Programme to support the centre, which is expected to take up to two years to complete from April next year.”

FOUNDATION AND PLUS ASKED TO GIVE ORAL EVIDENCE TO HOUSE OF LORDS

EVIDENCE TO THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE EUROPEAN UNION SUB COMMITTEE (SOCIAL POLICY AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS: Inquiry into the EU Commission’s Communication on organ donation and transplantation: policy actions at EU level

Following the written evidence provided by Kidney Wales Foundation , we have been asked to attend the House of Lords in January 2008 to provide oral evidence. We have asked the Committee to:

Firstly, look at a UK and European wide call for a change in legislation on presumed consent.

Secondly, how organisations like UKT work effectively with charitable organisations in Wales and other regions on promotion and awareness.

Thirdly, to consider that all UK and European regions have a fair amount of allocated funds to spend on donor awareness.

Fourthly, a European Donor Card be activated and enabled as soon as possible while waiting for a Directive on presumed consent.

We concur with the view in the communication from the Commission of the European Communities: Organ Donation and Transplantation that organ transplantation offers excellent results for patients. For those with kidney disease renal transplantation provides the most successful and cost effective treatment for established renal failure. However, in Wales a relatively low number of people are receiving transplants as a consequence of three inter-related factors:

• Lack of availability of organs
• Lack of capacity to undertake transplantation
• Sub-optimal organisational arrangements.

PATIENTS RALLY SATURDAY 12 JANUARY 2008 SWANSEA

To mark the work of the CAMPAIGN a rally is taking place in Swansea chaired by Allison John.

Please register by e mailing Allison on allison@kidneywales.com

A number of speakers will attend and the results of the Campaigning discussed to take matters forward.


Venue is Village Hotel Swansea.Start is 9 30am for coffee.

PRAISE FOR THE CAMPAIGN IN ASSEMBLY DEBATES IN 2007

Edwina Hart AM speaking in the Assembly as Health Minister "...the People Like Us campaign. It has been an exceptionally responsible campaign that has tried to highlight what practical actions we can take to improve the quality of life of patients with renal problems. I have responded directly to People Like Us about the issues that have arisen from its document and I would be happy to share that with Assembly Members, because it will indicate my thinking. I have also recently met representatives of the campaign. It has been proactive in making arrangements for me to meet with other voluntary organisations with an interest in the whole issue of donors. It is important that we have an integrated campaign about donors."

David Melding AM"I commend the People Like Us campaign on raising these issues in a constructive way. It has said a few things to which you may want to respond at some point, Minister. It has argued for one organisation to commission services across Wales, thereby ensuring a consistent standard. I am not sure what your response to that would be, Minister, but it is worthy of consideration. Such a model could meet many of the concerns that people have. Also the need for better preventative work, and the management of chronic disease—kidney disease in this case—needs to be emphasised too. "

JENNY RANDERSON AM "... I commend the work of the Kidney Wales Foundation and the People Like Us campaign, which has worked hard to put this issue on the agenda. It is clear that it has succeeded in stage one of its campaign."

EDWINA HART AM "I concur with your comments about the Kidney Wales Foundation, which has done an excellent job in highlighting these issues to the public and to us as politicians. It is to be commended for that, because that is the role of the voluntary sector. The good thing is that the voluntary sector can see quite clearly that it has been successful in helping Government to look at their policies. That is a plus for the Government and for the working of the National Assembly, which is an important point to note."

BRIDGEND MP HIGHLIGHTS CONCERNS OF CAMPAIGN IN PARLIAMENT

Member of Parliament for Bridgend raises issues in the HouseMrs. Madeleine Moon (Bridgend) (Lab): May we have a debate on whether people should have to opt out of kidney transplantation, rather than opt in to it? My constituent, Mark Schofield, recently travelled to the Philippines in an attempt to buy a kidney for £40,000, when the one donated by his mother Jean failed. We are now at the stage where 380 people in Wales are waiting for kidney transplants. Could we consider moving the situation forward, to an opt-out rather than an opt-in?

Ms Harman: I will draw my hon. Friend’s comments to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health. We all know that transplantation of a donated organ can transform the life of the recipient. We also all know that many people suffer while they are waiting for a transplant or even die before it becomes available. We know, too, that relatives of many people who would be happy to donate their organs often do not receive a request on their behalf. I will bring that matter to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health.

NHS Wales News - Welsh Assembly Government Statement from Edwina Hart, Minister for Health and Social Services

NHS Wales News - Welsh Assembly Government Statement from Edwina Hart, Minister for Health and Social Services

News: Welsh Assembly Government Statement from Edwina Hart, Minister for Health and Social Services
21 November 2007, Welsh Assembly Government


Minister for Health and Social Services Edwina Hart makes statement on Renal Services and Transplantation


Presiding Officer, I am grateful for the opportunity to make this statement setting out my plans for renal services and transplantation in Wales.


I have recently spoken with renal patients, clinicians and carers in Wales to listen to their experiences. These discussions have reinforced my commitment to ensuring that renal patients receive their care as locally as possible as part of a comprehensive, well organised service.


Wales has a good record for both renal dialysis and transplantation rates in the UK, but more needs to be done to meet both present and future demand.

BBC NEWS | Wales | Debate on opt-out organ donation

BBC NEWS | Wales | Debate on opt-out organ donation

Debate on opt-out organ donation

There is a serious shortage of organs in the UK , Edwina Hart said
A series of public debates are to be held about introducing a system of "presumed consent" for organ donation, says the Welsh Assembly Government.
Health Minister Edwina Hart told AMs she wants people to consider Wales moving to an opt-out system.

It would mean everyone would be considered as a potential organ donor at death, unless they had registered their objection.

Charities and people who have had transplants have welcomed the move.

Around three-quarters of a million people in Wales are currently on the organ donor register.

But the gap between the number of organs donated and the number of people waiting for a transplant is increasing, the minister said.

"I know without donor families I myself would have been dead 12 years ago" said

Alison John, ambassador for Kidney Wales Foundation

Roy J. Thomas, chair of Kidney Wales Foundation, which supports people with kidney disease and has lobbied for the opt-out system, added: "We believe that if people are prepared to accept an organ for themselves or their loved ones then they should be prepared to give an organ to help save someone else's life."

Last month a survey by the British Medical Association revealed that two-thirds of more than 2,000 questioned felt the UK should move to an opt-out system.

But just over a quarter of the people surveyed said they were on the register.