Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust is to launch an i-phone app dedicated to promoting and informing people about organ donation at an event at 2.30pm on Monday 30 June at Harrogate District Hospital.
The app was designed by local students, following a competition run by the healthcare Trust and developed by a young intern from York St John University.
Featuring stories from an organ donation recipient and others, information on which organs and tissues can be donated and the views of major religions on organ donation, the app is the first of its kind within the NHS. It aims to both educate people about organ donation and encourage them to sign up with the National Organ Donor Register.
Dr Albert Day, Chair of the Organ and Tissue Donation Committee at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said:
We want to encourage people to find out more about organ and tissue donation and discuss their wishes with their families. Donation is not for everyone and their choice must be respected, whether or not they wish to donate their organs and tissues. However, many people hold back from signing up to the National Organ Donor register because they do not know enough about it and we want to put that right. Given that there was no NHS app in existence on the subject, we thought this was a great opportunity to play our part.
The gift of organ donation is one of the most amazing things that anyone can do, transforming the lives of others and we are extremely grateful to all those who have donated organs and tissues at Harrogate District Hospital and their families.
We are delighted that a number of local schools took part in our competition to design the app, which is particularly aimed at young people. Their ideas showed great imagination and have enabled us to put together an app that is will encourage people to learn more.
We would like to thank all the students who took part in our competition, the people whose lives have been touched by organ donation who have let us tell their stories on the app and all the staff at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Blood and Transplant and York St John University who have helped us to develop the app.
The winning schools who helped design the app were Harrogate Grammar School, Ripon Outwood Academy and Queen Ethleberga’s College. The app was developed by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust with the assistance of NHS Blood and Transplant and York St John University.
You can sign up to the National Organ Donor Register at www.organdonation.nhs.uk
