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HEALTH chiefs in the region have become the first in Wales to set up an organ donation committee aimed at saving even more lives.
Bosses at Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University NHS Trust have taken the step to ensure as many patients as possible waiting for organs have a better chance of getting one.
It is hoped the committee will help maximise the number of potential organs available for transplant.
The main goal of the new committee is making sure every potential donor is identified.
Push Mangat, the trust's organ donation champion and intensive care consultant, said he believed the committee would make a key difference to those waiting for a transplant.
Dr Mangat, who is also the trust's clinical director for anaesthesia, critical care and theatres, said: "Nationally, the organ donation taskforce published a set of recommendations aimed at increasing the number of organs available for transplant, and the action we are taking follows those recommendations. We have set up a donation committee, and appointed an organ donation champion and an in-house transplant co-ordinator." He added: "At the moment, there are some potential donors who may not be identified as such.
"This means that the chance of helping save the life -of another may be missed."
The new committee, which met for the first time this week, will be meeting regularly to report on progress and recommend a series of actions on organ donations.
In the past six months, six kidneys have been donated by patients who died naturally at Morriston Hospital.
Dr Mangat said: "At the moment, only kidneys are being retrieved this way.
"There is a short period , an hour, after a patient has died a natural death and their heart has stopped beating, when their kidneys are still viable as transplant organs.
"This offers opportunities for more organs to be donated, but we are aware that it is a very difficult time for families."
The organ donation champion said for a donor organ to be retrieved after someone had died naturally meant they had to be taken to theatre as soon as possible because of time constraints.
"We need to explain this clearly but sensitively to families, and then ensure they are able to spend time with their loved one at an appropriate time later, if this is their wish," he added.