The Scotsman has reported how transplant surgeon and Health Foundation Clinician Scientist Fellow Luke Devey is working to drive up rates of organ donation by promoting the ‘human face’ of the transplant service.
Devey told the Scottish daily that he wants to help people overcome the fears that cause 39% of potential donors’ families to refuse to donate their loved one’s organs for transplant.
‘People are dying on the transplant waiting list when good organs are going to waste,’ says Devey, a surgeon at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
It is, he says, a problem of trust, often stemming from the ‘freakish’ stories in the media about face transplants or organs sold for cash.
Devey is leading a web-based project to tell the stories of the real people behind the transplant service: the organ courier travelling the country in his van, the teams in the call centre, and the surgeons – all of them ordinary people with families of their own.
Then there are the remarkable stories of the donors and recipients - those who have made, as he puts it, ‘the ultimate act of solidarity with a fellow human being’.
Devey wants to get across the impressive facts of organ donation – on average, an organ transplant adds 33 years to a recipient’s life – to show people how they can turn their own family’s tragedy into something positive for another.
It is the shortage of donations that drives Devey to strive to improve the potential of donated organs.
With full funding from the Health Foundation, he is able to divide his time between the operating table, his work to engage the public, and the lab, where his interest lies in finding a solution to ischaemia reperfusion injury, a potentially fatal complication that occurs when organs deprived of oxygen during transportation are injured when connected to the recipient.
The Clinician Scientist Fellowship Scheme, in partnership with the Academy of Medical Sciences, provides financial support, leadership development and the time to carry out research alongside their clinical work. This allows those like Devey to make a significant and long-term difference to patient care.