Provision of Laboratory characterisation (HLA typing and microbiological screening) of eligible deceased organ donors

The service provision required is laboratory characterisation (HLA typing and microbiological screening) of eligible deceased organ donors to permit safe and legal transplantation of all solid organs.

Donor characterisation is an absolute requirement for safe organ allocation and is mandated in law under the Quality and Safety of Organs Intended for Transplantation Regulations (2012)6. The majority of organs cannot be offered or allocated to recipients until the results for the donor HLA type and microbiology screen are reported.

Donor characterisation is the process of collecting relevant information about the donor to evaluate suitability for organ donation. Organs from DBD and DCD donors can transmit disease; a minimum repertoire of microbiological screening tests is undertaken as mandated by the European Union Organ Donation Directive1 and recommended by The Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO)2

The information provided contributes to recipient patient safety, minimises the risk of disease transmission, enables risk mitigation and through allocation processes ensures equity of access to organs. Information relating to the donor is used by transplant clinicians in making the decision to either accept or decline an organ and by the potential recipient to inform a decision to either consent to or refuse a transplant from a particular donor.

A robust and efficient laboratory service providing donor characterisation is essential to support organ offering and subsequent transplantation helping to meet the future demands of the organ donation and transplantation programme.

Laboratories will deliver a nationally defined testing service for all consented/authorised eligible organ donors.

Expressions of interest should be e-mailed to Henry.Prudden@nhsbt.nhs.uk by 12:00 hours on Friday 14th October 2022.