MHH and UKL sign cooperation agreement
It shows (from left) PD Dr Elvis J. Hermann (Organ Donation Consultant and Vice Director of the Department of Neurosurgery, MHH), Professor Dr Frank Lammert (Director, MHH), Dr Svitlana Ziganshyna (Medical Director of the Transplant Commissaries Unit, UKL) Dr Frank Logemann (Transplant Comissary, MHH) and Danny Petzoldt, (Transplant Commissary, UKL). Copyright: Inka Burow / MHH
Hannover Medical School (MHH) and Leipzig University Hospital (UKL) will co-operate in the field of organ donation in future. The aim is to promote safety in the complex process of organ removal, which is usually only carried out a dozen times a year, even in large hospitals, as Professor Dr Frank Lammert, Director of Patient Care at the MHH, and Professor Dr Christoph Josten, Medical Director of the UKL, emphasise. At the university hospital level, this is the first time in Germany that such an agreement has been concluded between the MHH and Leipzig University Hospital.
"This is certainly a signal and should also encourage smaller clinics to address the topic of organ donation more than before with more experienced partner clinics," says Dr Frank Logemann, Transplant Commissary at the MHH. The jointly developed model agreement will be made available to all clinics for this purpose. "Such agreements create the basis for uncomplicated cooperation," adds Dr Svitlana Ziganshyna, Medical Director of the Transplant Commissaries Unit at the UKL.
Besides an exchange of information and experience, this involves support in problematic cases, the compensation of personnel, material or technology as well as securing access to the organ and tissue donor register. "Joint public relations campaigns, training for staff and other transplant commissaries as well as improved quality management through peer review procedures also provide added value," emphasises Dr Logemann.
Text: Stefan Zorn