Nottinghamshire University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust is helping to turn the sky in Nottingham pink this week and helping to save lives at the same time.

The initiative will see the Queen’s Medical Centre and buildings on the Trust’s City Hospital site – alongside well known Nottingham landmarks – lit up pink for Organ Donation Week which runs from Monday 20 September to Sunday 26 September 2021.

Nottingham buildings turning pink on Wednesday 22 September are the QMC, City Hospital, Kings Mill Hospital, the university’s Trent building, Nottingham City Council’s Council House and Wollaton Hall.

The Light It Up Pink initiative is inspired by the pink NHS Organ Donor Register card. Across the country, someone dies every day in need of an organ.

The aim is to inspire people to get talking about organ donation and encourage more people to share with their families their decisions around organ donation. As well as NUH, others taking part include Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust, the University of Nottingham, and Nottingham City Council

Around 350,000 people in the Midlands are already on the NHS Organ Donor Register, around 35% of the population. However, people need to tell their family to help ensure their family supports their decision, if they are approached about organ donation by a specialist nurse in hospital.

Last year NUH had the highest number of organ donors of any Trust, helping save or improve the lives of people desperately in need of a transplant across the UK.

NUH teams facilitated 46 deceased organ donors resulting in 157 lifesaving organs for transplant. This is despite organ donation rates across the UK falling due to the pandemic, where Covid-19 had a wide-reaching impact across the whole NHS and every aspect of UK society.

Steve Gill, Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia and fellow ODC member at NUH added: “This is a testament to the care and dedication of our teams across Adult and Paediatric Intensive Care, Theatres and our Emergency Department who managed to support the NHS Blood and Transplant service throughout the pandemic, to facilitate 46 organ donors”.

Ian Johnson, Consultant in Adult Critical Care and Clinical Lead on the Organ Donation Committee (ODC) at NUH said: “It’s always fantastic to see Nottingham buildings lit up pink for Organ Donation week, and we hope that it gets people talking and finding out more about organ donation.

“We know the pandemic has affected organ donation across the country, but for our teams to have continued to work with families to honour their loved one’s wishes around organ donation is just brilliant. We’re pleased that 232 people in the East Midlands received a lifesaving transplant last year. Sadly that means there are still 414 people locally waiting for a transplant.”

Sadie Harris, Specialist Nurse – Organ Donation at NUH adds: “None of our work would be possible without the selfless generosity demonstrated by our donors and their families, who have agreed to support organ donation following the sad loss of their loved one. We are always hugely grateful and humbled at their ability to see beyond their own grief, and give the gift of life to another family.

Dr Paul Greatrix, Registrar of the University of Nottingham said: “We’re delighted to light our Trent Building pink this Wednesday, in support of organ donation week. Hopefully it will encourage people to have a conversation and make their wishes around organ donation known.”

Family members will still be consulted before organ donation goes ahead, but they will be more likely to support your organ donation decision, when they already know what you want to happen.

This year, organ donation has also been added to the National Curriculum for the first time and family members, whatever their age, are being encouraged to get together to talk about their own donation decisions.

Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation, for NHS Blood and Transplant said: “It’s brilliant that Nottingham University Hospitals, Sherwood Forest Hospitals and local partners are  showing support for Organ Donation Week.

“Please, tell your family you want to save lives through organ donation, because it could be the difference between life and death for someone else.”

Millions of people are already on the NHS Organ Donor Register. To find out more and register your decision, visit: www.organdonation.nhs.uk

Alternatively, users of the NHS app, can use this to record, check and update your details and organ donation decision.