NHSBT Named A Winner In IT Awards For Electronic Offering System

Main Category: Transplants / Organ Donations
Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail
Article Date: 18 Jun 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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A life-saving program that speeds up the matching of donated organs to would-be transplant patients has been named a finalist in the international Computerworld Honours Program 2009.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) commissioned global services company, Sapient, to design an electronic system to manage the process for matching and allocating organs donated for transplant across the UK.

The Electronic Offering System (EOS) enables donor transplant co-ordinators (DTCs) to input information relating to deceased donors, allowing recipient co-ordinators to see on-screen what organs are available for transplant in real-time.

The system uses 3G-enabled laptops, allowing DTCs to work independently in intensive care units until they are ready to share stored information with the UK Transplant Registry via the secure NHSBT network.

The technology, which uses a mix of electronic forms and computer graphics to record and store the data, replaces the previous system of organ allocation and matching which relied heavily on paper, pen, fax and telephone.

The speed of the web based application makes the allocation process more efficient. In addition, clinical analysis shows that speed plays a part in the long term success of the transplant itself which is improved the quicker an organ is transplanted.

Sally Johnson, Director of Organ Donation and Transplantation, NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "With improved accuracy, efficiency and security, EOS is helping to speed up the allocation process, which frees up the DTCs to spend more time supporting donor families.

"This one-to-one care given by specially trained senior nurses is a key part of the donation process so anything we can do to improve the way they do their jobs helps deliver a real benefit to patients and families."

EOS was one of five winning finalists in the Health Category of the Computerworld Honours Program event held on 1 June in Washington DC, having been shortlisted from a list of 200 potential winners competing across 10 different categories.

This year's Honourees were commemorated during the 21st Annual Laureates Medal Ceremony & Gala Awards Evening, an event which for over two decades has acknowledged individuals and organisations that have used information technology to benefit society.

The event unites the world's foremost information technology companies to recognise the most outstanding user achievements in technology each year. The technology achievements honoured by this program are preserved and protected in national archives, and in over 350 universities, museums, and research institutions throughout the world.

The nominations are made by a group of 100 Chairman and chief executives of global technology companies around the world whose visionary applications of information technology promotes positive social and economic progress.

Last year (1 April 2008 - 31 March 2009) a record number of organ transplants were carried out in the UK - 3,504 - an 8% increase on the previous 12 months.

During the same period, the number of deceased organ donors rose by 11% across the UK, rising from 809 in 2007-08 to 900 in 2008-09.

Notes

1. NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is a Special Health Authority in the NHS. It is the organ donor organisation for the UK and is responsible for matching and allocating donated organs. Its remit also includes the provision of a reliable, efficient supply of blood and associated services to the NHS.

2. There are currently almost 8,000 people in the UK on the "active" waiting list for an organ transplant but more than 2,000 more are on the "suspended" list because they are too ill or unable to receive a transplant at present. This means there are more than 10,000 people who need an organ transplant in the UK.

3. The number of donor transplant co-ordinators is being expanded in line with recommendations of the Organ Donation Taskforce report Organs for Transplants, with the total due to increase from 120 to almost 250.

4. EOS is presently in use in 12 DTC teams with complete roll out of the scheme due by December 2009

5. The Computerworld Honours Program was founded by International Data Group (IDG) in 1988; the Computerworld Honours Program is governed by the not-for-profit Computerworld Information Technology Awards Foundation. In its 21st year, Computerworld Honours is the longest running global program to honour individuals and organizations that use information technology to benefit society.

Source
NHS

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