Quality and safety
Receiving payments and other material or non-material gains for organ and tissue donation is not acceptable.
Donation of body parts of a deceased donor is carried out after the donor’s definite death. The donor’s death is defined as brain death or death after definitive cardiac arrest. Brain death is established by a brain death determination commission, composed of at least two specialist doctors. The decision of the commission must be unanimous. Commission members may not be physicians who will be involved in the removal or transplantation of the deceased donor’s organs and tissues.
The system of allocating organs and tissues to recipients is based on justice and equal access of all recipients to transplantation therapy. It complies with the rules on the management of waiting lists. It must be transparent, autonomous and independent, and the retrieved organs must be used to the greatest possible benefit.
The Organ Transplant Act defines the tasks of Slovenia Transplant, which are summarized in the following paragraphs:
Slovenia Transplant issues professional guidelines and carries out professional supervision of donor hospitals and transplant centres. ¸Its tasks include counselling, setting up and updating a system for ensuring quality and safety of organs and tissues, and supervising the exchange of organs and tissues with other member states of the European Union and third countries.
Slovenia Transplant upgrades and maintains an information system for the activities of procurement, transplantation and disposal of organs and tissues. It compiles and administers a central register of donors and recipients, and a record of authorizations issued to donor and transplant centres. It keeps a record of the number of living and deceased donors and the type and number of removed and transplanted organs. It also maintains waiting lists, keeps a record of hospital, clinical and central transplant coordinators, and creates and maintains a database of declared donors. The collection and storage of data is in compliance with the Organ Transplant Act and regulations on personal data protection.
Slovenia Transplant is promptly notified of any serious adverse event (SAE) or reaction (SAR) in a recipient or a donor. When such an event or reaction is suspected of being connected with an organ retrieved or transplanted in another EU member state, ST immediately notifies thereof the competent authority of the member state of origin.
Supervision of retrieved, transplanted and discarded body parts is carried out by Slovenia Transplant (ST) and Eurotransplant (ET). Donor and transplant centres must report to Slovenia Transplant all retrievals, transplantations and possible storage of organs and tissues. The supervision starts in the operating theatre at the time of organ removal, where the transplant coordinator thoroughly documents every recovered organ or tissue. A record of retrieved organs is kept by ST as well as by ET. The transplant coordinator documents all organs and tissues transplanted in Slovenia, and all those given away or acquired through ET. An organ or tissue that has not been transplanted is destroyed before a commission by a predetermined procedure, and a special certificate of organ disposal is issued. The signatories of such a certificate are the responsible experts. ST then sends the certificate to ET and vice versa. Thus, ST and ET both maintain a record of the use or exchange of every organ
- donated by a deceased donor in Slovenia and used in Slovenia;
- donated by a deceased donor in Slovenia and used in a centre within the ET network;
- sent from the ET network;
- originating from a country that is not part of the ET network.
INSTITUTE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR THE TRANSPLANTATION OF ORGANS AND TISSUESSLOVENIJA-TRANSPLANT
