“Organ donation is a priority for the Schifani government, which is committed with perseverance and determination to guaranteeing the right to health and the appropriateness and timeliness of care for its citizens.” This was stated by the regional health councilor, Giovanna Volo, speaking at the conference “Procurement, donation and organ transplantation. Reflections and objectives for the optimization of processes in SSR companies,” organized by the Regional Transplant Center, which took place this morning at Palazzo Reale, seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly, in Palermo.
“Health Department has defined objectives for the new general directors”
“The Department of Health – continued Volo – has defined clear and concrete objectives for the new general managers of the companies of the Regional Health Service regarding the path of strengthening and enhancement to be followed in terms of organ procurement and donation. In the first months of 2024, there was double the number of transplants performed on the Island compared to the same period in 2023 and therefore a growth that highlights how the Sicilian Region and the entire Sicilian transplant network, together with the regional coordinator and the current operational CRT, are working in the right direction, in a climate of mutual trust, and thanks to the commitment and dedication of all the subjects involved, guaranteeing an essential service”.
Feltrin, “It is essential that regions have a strategy”
“It is essential – says Giuseppe Feltrin, director of the National Transplant Center – that the regions recognize the procurement activity as strategic, clearly defining the objectives for hospital and healthcare companies and this is particularly necessary for those in the South which are called upon to fill a structural gap in the field of donation. The National Transplant Center is doing intense work in the various territories to support the transplant network, tailor-made to local needs: we will also accompany Sicily on this path, which has recently achieved significant improvements and which today takes a step forward that we want to enhance ”.
The objectives presented by the department to managers
The objectives presented by the regional health department to the general managers of the SSR healthcare companies concern organizational and management issues of procurement, i.e. the process that ensures that the donation-transplant process is successful.
Among these, the reporting of a suitable number of couples by the complex operating units of Nephrology to the Reference Centers to start the assessment process of suitability for kidney transplant from a living donor; the achievement of a virtuous number of assessments, with neurological and cardiological criteria, for potential organ donors in proportion to the bed capacity of the intensive care units of the companies; the appointment of local company coordinators with a recognized role of highly professionalism and time dedicated to procurement in relation to the donation potential of the company to which they belong.
But also those of guaranteeing the composition of the commission for the assessment of brain death with specialists available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, also through agreements with other companies; guarantee specialists and necessary procedures also through agreements with other companies.
In 2023, transplants in Sicily will grow by 30%
The donation and transplant activity coordinated by the Crt Sicilia in 2023 recorded an increase of 30 percent compared to 2022. This year the trend is further growing with more than double the number of transplants carried out: in fact, the number of transplants has gone from 70 to June 2023 to 170 registered in June 2024.
Sicily eighth region in Italy
To date, Sicily is the eighth region for donations and transplants compared to 2022 in which it was fourth last at a national level.
Also participating in today’s initiative were the coordinator of the Regional Transplant Center, Giorgio Battaglia, the director of the Strategic Planning department, Salvatore Iacolino, the director of Dasoe, Salvatore Requirez, the head of operational coordination of the Crt Sicilia, Antonio Scafidi, the general directors of the ASP including Walter Messina, extraordinary commissioner Arnas – Civico Benfratelli where the Crt Sicilia is based. The director of the Operational Crt, Vincenzo Mazzarese, moderated.
