PA Hospital undertook the 100th kidney transplant for the 2023 year on Tuesday 11 July, signalling a return to pre-COVID transplant activity levels.
Director of Metro South Kidney and Transplant Service, Professor David Johnson said it was great to finally be back on track.
“This is an excellent trajectory and the activity over the last few months has been particularly high with a combination of live donor and deceased donor kidney transplants which has kept our whole team very busy,” he said.
The multidisciplinary machine that makes every transplant a reality includes clinicians and support staff from Queensland Kidney Transplant Service, Ambulatory and Renal Transplant Services, kidney transplant coordinators, donor coordinators, perioperative staff, Ward 4BT, allied health, travel coordinators and more.
Clinical Nurse Consultants in Transplant Outpatients, Lorraine Butner and Dorcas Tarumbwa said engagement with patients is key to improve the longevity of their new kidney.
“The goal is for every transplant patient to have the skills to take care of their new kidney after they go home to improve the long-term outcome from their transplant,” Lorraine said.
“Our role as patient educators is to provide the knowledge and support services needed to foster ongoing relationships that keep patients with a transplanted kidney happy and healthy in the community.”
Dorcas said these networks encompass a whole team of people from our service including the diabetes educator, pharmacist, social worker, dietitian, and Indigenous Support Worker who empower the patient and their social supports to manage diet, medication and overall health.
The average number of kidney transplants per year at PA is 160 (not including COVID years), and statistics for 2023 look promising with another three transplants already completed since the milestone was achieved.