From Board to Ward – September 2026
Alana’s Epilepsy Mission was shared with and supported by our Board leaders, while there was much to celebrate in a very successful community Careers Showcase event, recognition for our Neonatal, REI and Immunology services and plans to maximise the number of people in the south west who benefit from organ donation.
In September’s Board to Ward we share three highlights:
Looking for more people to benefit from Organ Donation
We host the South West Transplant Centre at Derriford Hospital. In 2023/24, we performed 48 kidney transplants, rising to 52 in 2024/25. We also work with other hospitals to facilitate the transplantation of other organs, such as the pancreas. We know transplantation is the current gold standard treatment for end stage kidney disease, with superior clinical outcomes to dialysis, and our aspiration is to offer transplantation to every suitable kidney patient in the South West peninsula.
Deceased donor transplant numbers are decreasing nationally and more acutely so in the South West while in recent years the proportion of living donor transplants has been increasing. The numbers of patients on the waiting list for transplant has risen from 108 on 31 March 2024 to 119 on 31 March 2025 and has remained stable since.
Opportunities for improvement remain: the median active waiting time to transplant was 698 days compared with the UK average of 502 days. These findings suggest that patients in Plymouth continue to wait longer than average to receive a transplant. The good news is that Plymouth has consistently performed positively in terms of lower-than-average organ decline rates.
Our Board leaders approved our clinical team’s South West Transplant Centre Kidney Organ Utilisation Strategy, which sets a clear framework for safe, equitable and evidence-based organ acceptance, with priorities to increase deceased donor transplantation and expand living donor transplantation. The priorities for us going forward in Organ Donation are:
1. Increase deceased donor kidney transplant numbers.
2. Develop the living kidney donor transplantation programme.
3. Secure the surgical theatre capacity and workforce needed to support both priorities
We are currently working with a production company on a series they are producing for Channel 5 called “Cause of Death”, two of the episodes in the series will have a focus on organ donation - one of which will be about a transplant facilitated following a patient’s death here at Derriford Hospital. If you would like to find out more about how organ donation saves lives and register to be a donor, please visit the NHS Organ Donation page
Alana’s Epilepsy Mission
Watch a video message from Alana about her condition and experiences
Alana is a 12 year old girl who lives with a polymorphic form of epilepsy, meaning she experiences multiple different seizure types and presentations. Seizures can happen during the day, during the night, at home, at school, in public and in hospital. Alana was diagnosed when she was 7 years old. She started medication immediately when she was diagnosed, but within two months her seizures had returned tenfold. Over the following five years, her epilepsy continued to evolve and become increasingly complex. Her epilepsy is drug resistant.
Her mum, Katherine and two brothers, came to talk to the Board about Alana’s condition. Katherine told us more about Alana: “She is also intelligent, articulate, determined, funny, adventurous and incredibly strong-willed. She does not want to be defined by epilepsy. She does not want a life built entirely around what she cannot do. She wants opportunities, independence, to be included. She wants people to understand her—not simply her diagnosis”
But Katherine described how: Families like ours live with the knowledge that a seizure can happen at any time and that sometimes a seizure can become something far more serious. This happened recently for Alana when she needed to put into an induced coma and placed on a ventilator, to allow her brain activity to slow down.
Katherine told the Board that: “Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological conditions in the world. It affects around 50 million people globally, including approximately 600,000 people in the UK. Around 1 in 100 people in the UK live with epilepsy, and thousands of children and young people are diagnosed each year. You can be diagnosed at any age. You may have had no previous health problems, and sometimes there is no obvious cause.”
Katherine and her family made a clear ask for:
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Better information and support for families following diagnosis.
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Improved epilepsy awareness and training, including for paramedics
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A quiet recovery space for children following significant seizure activity.
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Emergency care bags for families arriving in crisis situations.
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Recognising that Derriford has a specialist paediatric epilepsy nurse, ongoing investment in specialist epilepsy nursing and support services.
Board members thanked Kathryn and her family, and specialist paediatric nurse Alice for coming and sharing Alana’s story. They agreed to do everything they can to work with Alana and her family to improve training, education and making positive changes for young people with epilepsy and their families.
Reasons to be proud
Careers Showcase
We are an anchor organisation and, together with partners from Livewell Southwest, Plymouth Marjon University, University of Plymouth, Plymouth City College, Kings Trust and Caring Plymouth, we held a very successful Careers Showcase on Saturday 26 September.
Thank you to all of our colleagues and partners who gave up their weekend to put this event on and to all the members of our local community who took the time to come along and find out more about careers in health and care.
Plymouth continues to face challenges around youth unemployment, with rates remaining higher than many areas of the country. The Careers Showcase demonstrated the breadth of opportunities available locally and aimed particularly to inspire young people. From the traditional roles of nursing, midwifery and medicine, to pharmacy, research and development, healthcare sciences, administration, estates, digital and other support roles, visitors were able to meet staff from across UHP and our partners and learn about different routes into employment, training and apprenticeships.
More than 820 people booked to attend the Careers Showcase and there were some great connections made and conversations had. From the feedback we have already received, we know that visitors left inspired.
Annual General Meeting (AGM)
We also held our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the same day. Read about Celebrating change and successes at UHP’s 2026 AGM
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Well done to our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit which has been recognised by the National Neonatal Audit Programme as an outstanding positive outlier for parental consultation. Achieving 99% compliance, compared with a national average of 94.5%, is a remarkable achievement and reflects the dedication, compassion and professionalism of the team. This recognition reflects the exceptional standards being delivered every day for some of our most vulnerable patients and their families.
Immunology Service
Our Immunology Service has successfully renewed its QPIDS accreditation following annual review by the Royal College of Physicians, providing external assurance of the quality of the service and the high standards maintained by the team.
Royal Eye Infirmary
The Royal Eye Infirmary has achieved Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Hub Accreditation, a significant external endorsement of the quality and effectiveness of the service. This achievement reflects the dedication, expertise and collaborative effort of colleagues across the department and recognises their commitment to delivering high-quality ophthalmology care for patients across the region.
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