National transplant award for Coventry-Oxford Network for Transplantation

An innovative partnership between Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW) was victorious at a national awards ceremony in March 2023.

The success of the Coventry-Oxford Network for Transplantation (COxNeT) was recognised at the 2023 NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and British Transplantation Society (BTS) UK Awards for Excellence in Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation.

UHCW and OUH were joint winners in the 'Excellence in Delivering Patient Care' category.

COxNeT, a research, training, and clinical service programme run by teams from both OUH and UHCW, allows patients from both sites to receive kidney transplants at the other when resources mean they can't undergo surgery at their usual site.

Transplant surgery is an unpredictable specialty and sometimes more than one kidney will be offered at the same time. This means that kidneys are at risk of being turned down due to lack of resources.

To minimise the chance of turning down acceptable kidneys for transplant and therefore giving patients the best access to transplant, Coventry and Oxford decided to create a partnership in May 2018.

Over five years, the partnership between OUH and OHCW allowed more than 150 patients to have a kidney transplant who might otherwise have missed out.

Professor Meghana Pandit, Chief Executive Officer at OUH, said: "This is wonderful news and I am incredibly proud of all of the teams involved. This partnership has made a real difference to patients' lives.

"On a personal level, I am also exceptionally pleased as I have seen COxNeT develop over the years and have been part of both teams. A huge congratulations to all, and thank you to NHSBT for recognising the partnership in this way."

Mr Sanjay Sinha, Consultant surgeon and Clinical Director for Renal, Transplant, and Urology at OUH, said: "COxNet is an example of an organic collaboration, led by local clinicians and managers, which has become an exemplar for the transplant community in the UK."

UHCW Consultant Surgeon and Transplant Service Lead, Deb Roy, said: "There were multiple nominations in each category so we are delighted to be chosen as the winner.

"Our sincere thanks must go the senior executive teams at UHCW and OUH for their continued support and commitment to patient care."

Pictured left to right:

• Anthony Clarkson, Director of NHS Blood and Transplant
• Mr Sanjay Sinha, Consultant surgeon and Clinical Director for Renal, Transplant, and Urology (OUH)
• Deb Roy, Consultant Surgeon and Transplant Service Lead (UCHW)
• Professor Peter Friend, Consultant Transplant and HPB Surgeon (OUH) and Director of Oxford Transplant Centre
• Lisa Burnapp, President of the British Society of Transplantation