Northumbria chosen as national training centre for organ donation

Northumbria University has been selected by NHS Blood and Transplant as a national training centre for organ donation.

The university will play a leading role in helping to train those working in this critical area, with hundreds of specialist nurses and critical care doctors from across the UK receiving the latest in simulation education training at Northumbria to boost their skills.

NHSBT selected Northumbria University to deliver some of this specialist training to health care professionals over the next three years because of its expertise in simulation education and its first-class health facilities.

There will be a greater focus on organ donation next year with a law change in England. From spring 2020, organ donation in England will move to an ‘opt out’ system. It means that all adults in England will be considered to have agreed to be an organ donor when they die – unless they have recorded a decision not to donate or are in an excluded group.

The training will be delivered within the University’s Clinical Skills Centre – a state-of-the-art facility within the University’s Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Health. The University has invested heavily in recent years to ensure it can provide the latest knowledge in technology enhanced learning to enable participants to take part in virtual reality training exercises and the centre now includes an anaesthetic room, operating theatre and recovery room, alongside hospital wards and a home setting, observation suites and an immersive studio to provide a realistic training environment.

Dr Alan Platt, associate professor in Simulation-based Education at Northumbria University, said: “The NHS Blood and Transplant service wants to ensure its staff are equipped with the very latest skills, knowledge and theoretical thinking to deliver a world class service. They recognise the quality of the training we can provide here at Northumbria and we are delighted to have been chosen as a national centre of excellence for organ donation training.

“We will be training the specialist nurses and doctors who are on the frontline of organ donation with meaningful, practical and theoretical clinical practice which will meet the aim of NHS Blood and Transplant in providing excellent care in support of families considering organ donation and potential donors. It is poignant the announcement comes as the University hosts some of the elite transplant athletes from across the world who are here in the region for the World Transplant Games.”

An NHS Blood and Transplant service spokesman said: “We are delighted to be working alongside Northumbria University as one of our centres for both Specialist Nurse in Organ Donation training and courses for Intensive Care Medicine senior doctors. The state of the art facilities as well as the expertise of Northumbria’s staff enable us to simulate, in as real way as possible, both emotive communication scenarios and clinical situations that enable delegates to both learn and gain confidence in their skills in a safe and wholly supportive environment.”

Northumbria University recently hosted the World Transplant Games Opening Ceremony.