Allocation of donor tissue
The Dutch Transplant Foundation (NTS) is responsible for a careful, fair, and transparent allocation of donor tissues. Together with doctors, tissue banks, and working groups and advisory committees, we ensure that donor tissues reach patients properly.
Who manages the waiting lists?
The Dutch Transplant Foundation (NTS) manages the waiting lists for corneas with HLA typing and heart valves. Doctors can submit a request for these tissues to the NTS. Doctors request eye tissue without HLA typing, bone, and skin tissue directly from a tissue bank. Any waiting list is managed by the bank itself.
Who allocates donor tissues?
The NTS allocation officer assesses whether suitable tissue is available and arranges the allocation. This involves looking at medical suitability, urgency, logistics, and waiting times.
Doctors request corneas without HLA typing, bone, and skin tissue directly from a tissue bank. Any waiting list is managed by the bank itself.
What are the field standards and allocation rules?
The NTS is responsible for establishing and applying allocation rules for donor tissue subject to mandatory allocation. To draft field standards and allocation rules, the NTS works closely with national advisory committees:
- Cornea Committee: this committee acts as an advisory committee for the (allocation) policy regarding corneal transplantations (corneas).
- Heart Valve Committee: this committee advises on the allocation policy for heart valves, patches, and blood vessels. The committee consists of four professors of thoracic surgery and representatives of the heart valve bank and the NTS (observers/advisors).
The advisory committees periodically evaluate the field standards and allocation rules and provide substantive advice on updates.
Collaboration with other countries
Sometimes more tissue is available in the Netherlands than the number of requests for patients in the Netherlands. If tissues are stored for too long, they can no longer be used. Therefore, doctors abroad can also request tissues. And vice versa: the Netherlands also receives tissues from foreign tissue banks. This is how we prevent the waste of precious tissue. Tissue is only issued abroad if there is sufficient availability for patients in the Netherlands.
Patient information
Do you work with patients on the waiting list? Then also check out the patient information for a practical explanation of waiting times, the type of tissue, and the procedure.