The Australian government is now operating in accordance with the Guidance on Caretaker Conventions, pending the outcome of the 2025 federal election.
Dear DonateLife Team,
It’s been a big start to 2023 and I can’t believe we’re already two months in!
On the 21st of February we released the 2022 Australian Donation and Transplantation Activity Report with a media event at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. It was very special to hear from Rob Clemmens and his two daughters, Emily and Isabella, who shared their story with the media. Whilst Rob and Katie had never discussed donation and she was not registered, he said there was no hesitation when they were asked about her becoming a donor as she was always so giving and caring. She was a nurse and then became a flight attendant. Rob and the girls are so proud that she has given another person a full life.
It was our first in-person release of the report since before the pandemic. It was great to be joined by Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, the Hon Ged Kearney MP, along with Victoria’s Minister for Health the Hon Mary-Anne Thomas, DonateLife Victoria and staff from the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
I hope you’ve had a chance to read through the report. It outlines the continued impacts COVID-19 had on donation and transplantation in 2022. While each state and territory faced their own unique set of challenges throughout the year, I couldn’t be prouder of the resilience, teamwork, and leadership of DonateLife teams. Together with transplant teams, you worked collaboratively to navigate a complex and challenging operating environment.
Our focus continues to be returning donation and transplantation to pre-pandemic levels and continuing to build to achieve the targets set out in the 2022-2027 Strategy.
As you all know, transplantation is only possible through the donation of organs and tissues, and its life-changing benefits would not be possible without the shared commitment we make to improving the rates of organ and tissue donation.
So, we’ve still got a lot of work to do. But we must remember that people are at the heart of DonateLife and I want to acknowledge your dedication and commitment. Thank you!
Warm wishes,
Lucinda
Some key points:
The 2022 Australian Donation and Transplantation Activity Report shows the operating environment for donation and transplantation in 2022 remained complex and challenging.
The COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact the health system, the health workforce, and the community, causing a decrease in donation and transplantation activity across the last 3 years.
Overall, there has been a 15% decrease in donation and transplantation outcomes from the pre-COVID-19 environment of 2019, though there was a small increase in 2022, compared to 2021.
There were 1,224 Australians who received an organ transplant, due to the generosity of 454 deceased organ donors and their families who said yes to donation in 2022. This is an 8% increase (33 more) in the number of donors and 4% increase (51 more) in the number of people receiving an organ transplant, compared to 2021.
Australia’s rate of donors per million population (dpmp) increased slightly to 17.5 dpmp from 16.4 dpmp in 2021, against a national target of 25 dpmp. This increase points to early signs of recovery from the impacts of COVID-19, achieved towards the end of 2022 in some jurisdictions.
Quick links:
Organ donation process video explainer (YouTube)
The OTA Clinical Programs team are on the lookout for an Education Specialist to join the team on a 12-month secondment.
The role will provide educational expertise to support the development, delivery and review of the National Education Program and specific educational projects and offerings.
It’s an important time in the evolution of the education program and applications from experienced and skilled Donate Life staff are welcome. Applicants are encouraged to discuss their EOI with their local Agency Manager.
Conferences and webinars
|
Date |
Activity |
|
On-demand |
The MOHAN Foundation, in association with Commonwealth Tribute to Life Project, webinar ‘Non-directed Altruistic living donation’. |
|
On-demand |
BTS/NHSBT Joint Congress 2023 – Free webinar |
|
13 March |
Commonwealth Tribute to Life annual event – Free webinar |
|
25-28 March |
TSANZSRS The Annual Scientific Meeting for |
|
29-31 March |
ANZICS/ACCCN Intensive Care Annual Scientific Meeting 2023 (Adelaide) |
|
15-21 April |
World Transplant Games (Perth) |
|
2-3 May |
2023 Donation and Transplantation Conference (Melbourne) |
|
17-20 June |
TSANZ 41st Annual Scientific Meeting (Brisbane) |
|
20-22 July |
|
|
18-21 October |
ISODP 2023 16th Organ Donation Congress (Las Vegas) |
|
26-27 October |
Transplant Nurses Association National Conference 2023 (Sydney) |
Key meetings
|
Date |
Meeting |
|
16 March |
Family Support Advisory Group (FSAG) meeting in Canberra |
|
21 March |
Community Engagement Group (CEG) meeting in Canberra |
|
22 March |
Clinical Governance Committee (CGC) meeting in Canberra |
|
23 March |
Jurisdictional Advisory Group (JAG) meeting in Canberra |
|
4 April |
Eye and Tissue Advisory Committee (ETAC) virtual meeting |
Staff took an opportunity to reinvigorate the ICU DonateLife Quality and Information Board whilst it was on forced vacation during the lead up to hospital accreditation.
The Board is duplicated across both DonateLife hospitals and will be updated quarterly.
Tuesday, 31 January was University of Canberra Open Day. It was a warm summer day and plenty of merchandise was given out, including hats and water bottles. There were bright pink caps to be seen everywhere with over 100 being handed out. Lots of registrations on the day and a big thank you to the Gift of Life team who manned the stall.
We also held the ACT Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving on Saturday 11 February at the National Gallery of Australia. The event gave us an opportunity to acknowledge and show gratitude to the donors and their families who said yes to donation.
Service of Remembrance
The annual Service of Remembrance was held on Saturday 19 November 2022. More than 200 people attended the first face-to-face service since 2019. Positive feedback was received from both attendees and speakers, with all expressing how much the day meant to them.
A Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving was also held in Newcastle, in the Hunter Region of NSW, for the first time in 3 years, with the event sharing the same theme as the Sydney service and welcoming over 100 attendees.
Thank You Day
Thank You Day was held on Sunday 20 November 2022. As with Saffron Day, social media posts included video messages from recipients which were sent out through the platforms of DonateLife and NSW local health districts. Each district was also given other social media resources such as tiles, suggested lines and links if they wanted to create their own local posts.
Community advocates
DonateLife was represented at other community events thanks to the generosity of our volunteer network:
St John’s Ambulance Service volunteer day
Henty Machinery Field Days
‘Dying to Know’ days at Newcastle and Port Stephens
Hunter Transplant Research Foundation Glow Walk
Tamil Community Language School
Bangla Language School
Various places of worship.
Research with Southern Cross University
Funded as part of the OTA’s Community Awareness Grants and coordinated by Southern Cross University, the OTDS participated in a research project with the Indian and Bangladeshi communities that aimed to co-design a community-relevant survey and dissemination strategy. The survey investigated the attitudes and beliefs relating to organ and tissue donation and registration. This project is an important activity and has produced a wealth of information that can be drawn on for future engagement with diverse cultural and religious groups.
Welcome to Tindal & Katherine
Welcome to the Top End is an event that DonateLife NT (DLNT) have been attending for the past 6 years in Darwin. It is run by Defence Member and Family Support (DMFS) branch to support families when they move to the NT to get to know what organisations exist in the communities they have moved to.
For the first time, DLNT attended Welcome to Tindal, located 320km south of Darwin (15km south of Katherine) to expand reach with Defence families. As Defence members do not use Medicare, it is important that hard copy AODR forms are available so members can still register their wishes regarding organ donation.
DLNT also took the opportunity to engage with other organisations including the town library, Katherine Hospital and Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations (ACCHO), Wurli-Wurlinjang (Wurli) and Sunrise Health.
ACCHO discussed the request from patients in the hospital setting for information regarding the whole story of organ donation, transplantation and looking after yourself. They explained the importance of these stories being shared closer to home and we discussed ways we may be able to work together and provide further education.
Out and about
We’ve enjoyed a strong start to the year hosting clinical workshops, attending PARTY Program events with local school students, and getting out to university O’Weeks. We’ve also had interest from several schools requesting staff to talk to their students. This is a great opportunity to talk to teachers about the new DonateLife education resources for Year 9 and 10 students.
High profile regional visitors
The Director-General of Queensland Health Shaun Drummond paid a visit to Rockhampton Hospital in January. Donation Specialist Nurse Coordinator Jo Reoch took the opportunity to chat about all thing’s organ donation, with Mr Drummond saying how much he admires the work of the DonateLife network.
New staff
There have been some welcome additions to the Queensland network:
Donation Specialist Nurse (DSN) Kate Bird has moved to DonateLife Qld headquarters at the Princess Alexandra Hospital to join the team as a Donation Specialist Coordinator
Emma Graham steps in as the new Donation Specialist Nurse
Dr Stephen Whebell has joined the Townsville Hospital team as a Donation Medical Specialist
Emma Burchall becomes our second Donation Specialist Nurse Coordinator at the Gold Coast University Hospital
Hayley Watkins recently joined the Queensland team as the Donation Specialist Nurse at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.
Statewide End-of-Life (EoL) Caller Group Education Day
On Monday 19 December 2022, EoL Callers from various hospitals in ED and ICU attended a one-day educational workshop. This annual event is a full day workshop aimed at connecting the EoL Caller staff with one another - for support and tools to manage self-care and stress management. The day proved to be a valuable gathering of dedicated people who shared ideas, resources and recounted their experiences, both positive and challenging. Each member took time to reflect on phone calls and personal accounts of EoL care in their workplace. Feedback was that the workshop provided an excellent opportunity to engage and collaborate.
Personal wellbeing was a point of focus with a mindfulness session, as well as an informative presentation from StandBy Australia on supporting those bereaved through suicide. Dr Tanya Zivkovic, Social Anthropologist also presented her findings on qualitative research questioning human society and culture regarding organ donation.
A big thank you to Bonny Kapelko, DSNC, for putting together a very successful workshop, presenting and coordinating the day.
New to the Team
Give a warm welcome to Claire Dowling and Amber Stanton, our new Donation Specialist Nursing Coordinators (DSNC) and welcome back Jessica Rivers, DSNC from parental leave. We would also like to wish Bethany Frith, DSNC a wonderful time away as she embarks on her overseas travel adventures and Amanda Stewart, DSNC all the very best as she commences her parental leave.
Bethany’s new adventure
Recently, DSNC Bethany Frith left the team, to embark on a new adventure. Before she boarded a plane, we asked her a few questions.
Why did you become a DSNC?
I felt it would be an incredible opportunity to build on my nursing career, whilst following my passion of advocating for patients who are at end-of-life and supporting their families. As a result of nursing in a busy ICU, I have become all too familiar with the fact that death in the ICU or ED is often tragic and not what most families expect when losing a loved one. I knew that if any sliver of good could come out of that traumatic time – I wanted to be a part of it and support families through it.
What were the highlights of your role?
I have always found special sentiment in caring for those who are at end of life. Caring for people at this stage and comforting families can be very powerful. I am often humbled and discover a new sense of perspective when witnessing families simultaneously celebrate a life and grieve a loss. Supporting families through what can only be described as one of the worst periods of their life, has been the highlight of this role for me.
I have seen the strength it takes for families to choose to help others in agreeing to donation, to respect last wishes and to try find some comfort in tragedy. Helping coordinate and advocate for this process and helping to support families make the decision, has been a true privilege and something I will always treasure.
What is it like working for DLSA?
It has been a positive experience. Although a smaller jurisdiction with our team of 8 DSNC’s, we remain comparatively busy with 56 families consenting to organ donation last year.
Having commenced my role during the peak uncertainty of COVID, there’s been great support within the DLSA team. Fatigue management, and the health and wellbeing of our staff is supported by incorporating wellbeing into our education, regular wellbeing emails, fatigue management assessment, regular staff check ins and open gratitude. This helped bring a sense of togetherness that wasn’t available during isolation and strengthened our team community.
What have you learnt?
A sense of community and teamwork brings effective communication and collaboration within our whole team. It is so valuable to the success of our day-to-day operations.
I have learnt a lot throughout my role as a DSNC. Aside from the huge clinical and technical growth in my nursing skills, I have also gained confidence from working within such a nuanced part of health.
I have been involved in groups such as first nations, education, grief and bereavement, and locally our health and wellness team. Globally, themes throughout these portfolios have taught me that kindness and compassion are of great importance for effective processes and improvements.
Why are you leaving, and would you return?
There is well documented high turnover of donor coordinators not only nationally but globally. This is likely because we manage the grief of others, and work in high stress environments. Anecdotally, I also believe this is part of natural succession planning for nurses as the roles of the donor coordinator and nurse specialist are a great steppingstone. Both scenario’s I have seen be supported by DLSA.
However, my choice to leave DLSA is neither of these as I am pursuing my travel dreams. The support that I have received from DLSA management, and my team is overwhelming, and my personal goals have been celebrated. I am very sad to be leaving the beautiful team that I work with and hope to see myself working in this space again sometime in the future.
Funding for simulation training
We are excited to announce we have just secured a 3-year funding agreement for our new Simulation Training Program. It will be used as an educational strategy to prepare our team. It replicates case work in a safe environment to enhance, support, and strengthen the training program and ongoing professional development of the workforce.
We aim to provide up to 8 simulation sessions a year over the next 3 years in partnership with St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. We’ll include both the nursing and medical workforce. The program is tailored to meet their professional needs and provide structured learning to skills that are pivotal to the donation process and promote collaboration and teamwork.
Congratulations to Nursing Service Manager Toula Saltas on securing the future of this program.
Community activations
Our momentum from the end of 2022 has carried through the new year, with several local community club presentations, participation in the Lifeblood Family and Friends Day, and our first intake of new volunteers for 2023. All before the first week of February! We’ve got a jam-packed month ahead with the Care and Aging Well Expo, A-League Pride Round and preparations underway to attend the Chill-Out Festival in early March.
New team members
DonateLife Victoria started the year by welcoming two new Donation Specialists and the return of a familiar face to the team; Ryan Simpson, Patricia van Pinxtreen and Georgie Callaghan. This sees the Donation Specialist Nurse Coordinator team return to full capacity for the first time in many years.
Brusselton Jetty Swim
We supported Transplant Australia at the Busselton Jetty Swim where 6 recipients competed. Five are competing in the World Transplant Games. John Price, the oldest lung recipient in WA (76) also competed with his family to honour his donor.
Read the Brusselton-Dunsborough Mail article about John.
Parliamentary friends of organ donation
The Parliamentary Friends of Organ and Tissue donation was established in WA by the Hon Stephen Pratt MLC, Member for South Metropolitan, Dr Jagdish Krishnan MLA, Member for Riverton, Ms Jodie Hanns MLA, Member for Collie-Preston. The inaugural gathering took place on Thursday 23 February. We joined this event to announce the 2022 Australian Donation and Transplantation Activity Report.
The first Perioperative workshop for 2023 was held at Perth Children’s Hospital on Saturday, 11th February. Twenty nurses attended from various sites.
Jake is taking part in the Transplant games in April, proudly wearing his jersey here. Jake is holding the Gift of Life Baton of the World Transplant Games. There are only 2 in WA.
Find out more about the Gift of Life Baton.
Staffing update
We welcomed some new and returning staff at the end of 2022:
2 new admin officers Kim Peters and Lara Hanrahan, who both commenced the week beginning 12 December
Trisha Denton started as a new Donor Coordinator in November
Anna Wilson returned to DLWA as the Donor Family Support Coordinator at the end of October.
What’s your role in the DonateLife Network?
Data/Business Analyst with the OTA
What does your role include?
At the moment, I’ve just finished compiling the 2022 Australian Donation and Transplantation Activity Report, phew! Throughout the year, my role also includes managing and maintaining the DonateLife Audit tool, SAEN form and the AODR interface, and the OTA analytics infrastructure.
What led you to your career?
Early on in my APS career, I was drawn to the data behind the reports and outcomes produced by my team, so I quickly made the move from a compliance role to a data role. I was also halfway through a Post Grad Diploma in Econometrics, which fit nicely with my new data role.
What was your first job?
Night-fill at Big W
Are you an early bird or a night owl?
It varies, but most of the time I’m an early bird, as long as the kids don’t wake me up through the night
Are you a dog person or a cat person (or neither)?
We have a cat, but I’m more of a dog person.
If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?
Telekinesis, Luke Skywalker style.
If you could only have three apps on your smartphone, which would you pick?
Waze, Spotify and Chrome
What’s your favourite sport to watch and which team do you barrack for?
My favourite sport to watch is soccer, but I haven’t followed it for a while. I barrack for the Newcastle Knights, otherwise I’d get kicked out of Newcastle.
What’s one hobby you’d love to get into?
Woodworking
What’s the top destination on your must-visit list?
Mars! But in the meantime, Autobahn in Germany in a fast car.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
Bluey theme song
This update is a snapshot of news from across the DonateLife Network. We’d also like to continually improve our monthly update, and we welcome your feedback.
If you have an update to share, get in touch with your state or territory communications rep or email the OTA communications team.
These updates are distributed to DonateLife staff across Australia, via the contact details within the DonateLife Learning Site. To update this distribution list, please speak to the education coordinator in your jurisdiction. We thank you for not sharing this update with anyone outside of the network.
