Organ donation is the gift of an organ to help someone who needs a transplant.
Many organs can be transplanted: kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, corneas, small bowel and pancreas. Leeds Teaching Hospitals is the only hospital in the UK to offer hand and upper limb transplantation and has been performing these operations since 2013.
Living donors donate an organ or part of an organ during their lifetime. Deceased donors are individuals who donate organs after their death for the benefit of others. Many deceased donors donate more than one organ.
What we do
The Organ Donation team at LTHT provide medical and nursing support to patients who have expressed a wish in life to become an organ donor, and support their families and the clinical staff caring for them through the process of organ donation.
Our specialist nurses are trained to talk to patients and their families about the option of donation. When a patient wishes to be a donor after their death, our nurse supports them and their family through end of life care and facilitates their wish to help others. Our team will offer to stay in touch with a donor’s family, often for many years afterwards.
We can update them on how their loved one’s gift has transformed the lives of so many others, if they wish.
Why become an Organ Donor?
One donor can save or enhance the lives of up to nine people.
None of us know what’s round the corner and any one of us could end up needing a transplant. Would you take a donated organ if you needed one? Nearly everyone would. But only around a third of us have joined the Organ Donor Register​.
We want to encourage all of us in Yorkshire to think about our end of life wishes in advance, share our wishes with our families and record a donation decision on the Organ Donor Register.
Get Involved
The most important way that you can support our campaign is by signing the Organ Donor Register.
Have the conversation – share your wishes for organ donation with your family and friends so that they know what you’d like to happen.
If you would like to tell us your experiences of organ donation, please email [email protected].
Register your decision