After 18 months on the transplant list, a patient in England finally received a new set of badly needed lungs. However, though required by NHS Blood and Transplant since March 2011, the medical history of the donor – specifically that the donor was a heavy smoker – was not disclosed to the recipient, who died shortly after of lung cancer.
The issues causing this death can be examined in a Cause Map, or visual root cause analysis. We begin an investigation by determining which goals were impacted by the event. In this case, the patient safety goal was impacted due to the death of the transplant recipient. Additionally, patient services were impacted because the patient was given “higher risk” organs. Lastly, the worldwide shortage of organs can be considered an impact to the property goal. Once we have determined these impacts to the goals, we can ask “Why” questions to develop the cause-and-effect relationship leading to the issue.
The patient death was due to lung cancer. The patient suffered from lung cancer because she received a lung transplant using lungs from a smoker. The patient was unaware of the donor history though disclosure of the medical history of a donor is required. Additionally, more patients are being given what are known as “higher risk” organs. This includes organs from smokers, the elderly, and even drug users. 39% of lung transplants are from smokers. Doctors believe that patients are better off with these organs than waiting on the transplant list. Only a handful of transplant recipients have died from diseases related to their donors’ health, but every year about1,000 people in the UK die waiting for a transplant. The quality of available organs is decreasing due to longer lifespan and obesity. Additionally, the number of organs has always been less than needed. The number of potential organ donors is small, due to a combination of factors, including personal reasons for not donating and families not donating a loved one’s organs when their wishes are not made clear.
Disclosure of a donor’s medical history is already required. Increasing the number of donors is desperately needed to ensure adequate availability of organs. You can contribute by becoming an organ donor and making your wishes clear to your family. The medical profession is attempting to increase the usability of organs, using methods such as the one discussed in a previous blog.
To view the Outline and Cause Map, please click “Download PDF” above.