Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is marking Organ Donation Week (Sept 18 to 24) by turning its buildings pink. The main Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI) site, along with its women and newborn building, will be lit up pink in support of Organ Donation Week.
Bradford City Hall and Bradford College will also be illuminated too.
The Trust will join a number of hospitals, businesses and community groups across the country in lighting their buildings to raise awareness of the ‘Yes I Donate’ campaign, which aims to inspire people to tell their families that they want to be a donor and to register their decision.
In the UK, someone dies every day in need of an organ and there are more than 7,000 people currently on the active transplant waiting list.
Consultant Anaesthetist, Dr James Morgan, who is also the Trust’s Clinical Lead for Organ Donation said:
I’m delighted that the BRI will be illuminated in pink, and we hope that it will make people take notice and start to discuss organ donation.
Sadly, many opportunities for organ donation are lost every year because families don’t know if their loved one wanted to be a donor or not. That’s why it is still just as important to register your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and ensure your friends and family know what you want and will support your decision.
You could save or transform up to nine people’s lives by donating your organs when you die and help even more people by donating tissue. That’s why we want to raise awareness and encourage people to talk about it.
Karen Piotr, chairperson of Bradford Teaching Hospitals’ organ donation committee said:
I hope people will take notice of our hospital buildings lit up pink and start to discuss the importance of talking about organ donation. Pink is the colour used by NHS Blood and Transplant to symbolise the ‘yes I donate organ donation campaign’ and hopefully our staff and the public will embrace the wearing of pink too.
Karen became involved in raising awareness when her husband, Mark donated his organs after his death following a catastrophic brain bleed. She is also a Donor Family Network Trustee and on Friday represents the Yorkshire region at the tenth anniversary service for the Order of St John in London.
Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant stated:
This Organ Donation Week we’re urging everyone to confirm their support for organ donation on the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Families will still always be consulted before organ donation goes ahead and we know that 9 out of 10 families will agree to support organ donation if their loved one has confirmed their decision to donate on the register.
The more people who make their decision known on the NHS Organ Donor Register, the more families will support that decision and the more lives will be saved.
Register your donation decision at www.organdonation.nhs.uk