Organisation’s clinical lead implements workforce-based interventions to promote organ donation, resulting in 4035 life-saving transplantations

Synopsis:

Anthony Clarkson, Assistant Director and Chief Nurse for Organ Donation leads 12 Organ Donation regional teams from which Specialist Nurses support Organ Donation across the UK. In a year of unprecedented performance in 2017-18 Anthony’s team facilitated a UK record 1575 deceased organ donors.

This meant that a record number of 4035 lifesaving Organ Transplants took place, saving lives and NHS funds as caring for a transplanted kidney patient saves £168,388 at 10 years compared to dialysis costs. His role is a unique blend of leading a large professional multi-disciplinary team across the 4 UK nations, being responsible for the strategic direction of the service and ensuring that the caring and compassionate values of the NHS are at the centre of everything the service does.

Anthony has moulded Organ Donation to provide excellent care, creating Service Development and Donor Family Care Teams to embed these values. A professional Nurse with a lifetime working in the NHS Anthony is a respected figure in UK healthcare. Currently working as Professional Advisor to NHS England and a leadership pioneer in Uganda sharing best practice with international colleagues and mentoring emerging Ugandan healthcare leaders his influence reaches beyond his Organ Donation portfolio.

Challenges/Goals:

A transformational leader Anthony delivers service improvements through engaging, encouraging and inspiring his UK wide team of Specialist Nurses and support service colleagues. As the operational and strategic leader of the UK donation teams Anthony seeks to meet the targets set for the service by the UK wide Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020 Strategy. This targets a donation rate of 28 donors pmp and a world class service.

To achieve this Anthony initiated and became Accountable Executive for a sweeping workforce review considering international best practice, publications, colleague feedback and extensive bespoke data. Anthony authorised the resultant introduction in the UK of the Specialist Requester role, these being Nurses given intensive communications training to support potential donor families, funded from wider review savings. Specialist Requesters have been shown to achieve improved consent rates and have reduced 24 hour Nurse working.

Anthony’s vision for the service increasing and improving organs for transplantation, staff working practices and patient safety from within a flat funding envelope, all while retaining excellent staffside relations. Anthony authorised work to design a donation pathway to identify and exclude patients who could not safely donate organs, shared at International Conferences it’s widely accepted as a vital safety innovation.

Outcome:

Organ Donations in the UK have doubled during the period in which Anthony Clarkson has been in post, increases culminating in 2017/18 when there were 1575 deceased organ donors; the highest number in history in the UK and 3% above the UK Strategy target for that year. As the operational and strategic leader Anthony has made decisions which have directly improved performance.

His introduction of the Specialist Requester role has directly increased donations. North West Donor Team, the first to introduce Requesters supported a record 216 donors and achieved a consent rate of 80.6% world class by international comparators and proof of the success of Anthony’s workforce innovations. As well as improving donation rates, Requesters have been enabled to provide long contact care to families, this care has been widely welcomed through family feedback and contact with patient representative groups.

As a senior leader Anthony is ready to provide direct care. He has met with and implemented ideas from donor families who have approached him direct and retains contact with them. As Chief Nurse he designed the first ever NHSBT Nursing Strategy, embedding care and quality expectations and guaranteeing organisational support to deliver them, cementing the commitment to excellence.

Spread:

Anthony Clarkson leads from the front, identifying opportunities to spread the organ donation message and disseminate ideas across the international organ donation community. Anthony is a member of the prestigious Global Leadership Symposium attending as a group leader, Leading Sessions and sharing best practice with international leaders at their biennial meetings. Initiatives such as the UK Donation after Circulatory Death programme have been shared there by Anthony.

As part of the Cross-Sector Leadership Exchange Anthony worked in Soroti, Uganda as a Leadership Pioneer. He helped Ugandan colleagues improve hospital organisation, mentored leaders and presented a healthcare action plan for the region to political and social leaders, his influence is ongoing with mentored colleagues keeping in contact and the action plan being revised with his assistance as circumstance demands.

Anthony is a public face for donation. He ran the @NHS Twitter account in February this year, informing and educating through an energetic curatorship. Published in the Nursing Times Anniversary edition he is also currently contributing to a book on emergency care. Keen to support donation to the public he is a regular contributor to TV, Radio and Twitter feeds, increasing knowledge, support and encouraging citizens to say ‘Yes’ to donation.

Value:

Under Anthony’s leadership Organ Donation offers a net financial benefit to the NHS over the short, medium and long terms. However the most significant benefit offered is the thousands of lives saved by Transplants. Patients who do not receive a transplant live shorter lives in ill health, the more Specialist Requesters NHSBT can employ from within the overall flat funding envelope for Organ Donation the more UK citizens will be able to enjoy the benefits of an organ transplant and the more donor families will have the comfort of knowing their loved ones have saved lives.

Anthony recognized this, leading a workforce design project that delivered savings to reinvest into front line nursing, the regions with Specialist Requester Nurses have seen increased donation rates validating Anthony’s vision. Anthony designed the first ever UK donation Ambassador programme which is integrated into Donor Family Care Department. This offers dual benefits, increasing spread of the donation message and saving money as events previously attended by Band 7 nurses now use volunteer Ambassadors. This allows Nurses to focus on providing family care and provides a public engagement service at minimal cost, ensuring all funds are directed to where they are most needed.

Involvement:

Chief Nurse for Organ Donation Anthony ensures patient care and involvement is continuous and drives improvements. Donor family feedback led to the creation of a suite of tools encouraging recipients to write to donor families with family members involved in the creation and content. Anthony created a donor family focus group, embedding user involvement in service development processes.

User groups such as Donor Family Network and National Kidney Federation are continually integrated into Organ Donation’s work, attending organisational events, offering feedback and influencing policy and messaging. Anthony ensures the principles of patient engagement are operationalised throughout his organisation. In his tenure St John Organ Donor Awards and Gold Heart Donor Family pins have been introduced to ensure all feel truly valued.

Anthony is committed to an open and honest culture putting safety first. He has a weekly Open Door session within which all colleagues can contact him confidentially with ideas, concerns or observations. Organ Donation runs a Great Ideas programme, inviting all colleagues to share best practice and innovation and supporting colleagues to implement changes where desirable. He also regularly goes Back to the Floor and has operationalised changes resulting from his learning during these periods with front line colleagues.