Hospital flies flag after each organ donation

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Four organ donation nurses in blue uniforms hold the flag outside of the Hull Royal Infirmary. The flag is purple and white and has a heart in the middle with the words Organ Donation Let's Talk About It.Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
The flag will be flown over the main entrance of Hull Royal Infirmary

A hospital will fly a flag every time an organ donation is made.

Hull Royal Infirmary displays the banner at the main entrance at the front of the building.

Specialist organ donation nurse Helen Russell said flying the flag was a way of showing "that some family is giving another person the gift of life".

"It's our way of honouring the patient who has made their wishes known to their relatives that they wish to donate their organs in the event of their death and it's a way of saying thank you to their family," she said.

The hospital said that 17 families had consented to organ donation since April last year.

One family has already seen the flag fly over the hospital after agreeing to donate organs from a loved one who had recently died.

"They told us it brought them comfort and they were able to share photographs of the flag with other members of their family who could not be at hospital," Ms Russell said.

The hospital said it hoped the imitative would encourage more people to sign the organ donation register.

Last year, the trust said 373 patients received a transplant across Yorkshire in 2023/2024.

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