First NHS organ donation flight and organ retrieval in Gibraltar

For the first time, an NHS organ donation has been carried out in Gibraltar.

The procedure was successfully carried out last week, marking a historic moment for Gibraltar's health service.

A team from NHS Blood and Transplant flew 2 and half hours to carry out donation operation, then returned the organs to the UK for transplant.

The Gibraltar Health Authority (GHA) and NHS Blood and Transplant wish to express its profound gratitude to the donor and to their family for their incredibly generous and courageous decision to donate their organs. In the midst of their own loss, their selfless act will now go on to save and transform lives.

The procedure was delivered through close collaboration between the GHA and NHSBT.

After being contacted by the hospital, NHS Blood and Transplant arranged for 2 Specialist Nurses in Organ Donation to fly to Gibraltar, to support the family and assess the potential for donation.

NHSBT then arranged for a specialist team from its National Organ Retrieval Service to fly into Gibraltar for the donation operation. NHSBT often uses flights to transport teams and organs within the UK.

This donation forms part of a formal pathway established between the GHA and NHS Blood and Transplant in 2015 under Gibraltar's reciprocal healthcare arrangements, which also ensure that Gibraltarians remain entitled to organ transplantation services within the NHS in the UK.

Several organs were successfully retrieved at St Bernard's Hospital and blue lighted to the airport before being flown to the UK.

As a result of this successful procedure, the GHA is now working to enable more donations in the future.

The importance of organ donation

Organ donation saves lives. A single solid organ donor can save and transform up to 9 lives, and registering takes just 2 minutes. Members of the public are encouraged to record their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and, just as importantly, to discuss their decision with their families.

There are currently 8,253 people on the transplant waiting list, including around 250 children.

Last year (24/25), 463 patients died while on the active list waiting for their transplant. A further 911 patients were removed from the transplant list, mainly due to becoming so poorly they were unlikely to survive and recover from a transplant operation. Many of these 911 patients are likely to have died shortly after removal.

The Gibraltar Minister for Health, Care and Business, the Hon Gemma Arias-Vasquez, said: "This was a historic moment for the GHA and for Gibraltar, and I want to place on record my sincere thanks to every member of the brilliant GHA team involved in this donation.

"I have spoken personally to the donor’s family, and I want to extend once again my deepest condolences to them. In the midst of unimaginable loss, they made a decision of profound generosity that will now go on to save and transform lives."

Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation at NHSBT Blood and Transplant, said:

"We're incredibly grateful to everyone who chooses to donate. We thank the donor's family for their gift of life.

"This was a first for NHSBT, enabled thanks to the agreement we've developed with the Gibraltar Health Authority. This is another example of the incredible work of our organ retrieval teams, who travel long distances and work very hard every day, to help carry out people’s wishes to save lives."