Mumbai: Families who agree to donate a loved one’s organs after brain death bring hope to several ill patients, but the hours that follow can be particularly difficult. Once organs are retrieved, families traditionally have to wait for the mandatory post-mortem examination and police formalities before the body can be taken home or to the cremation ground.On June 26, a small but significant change helped ease that wait for two donor families at H N Reliance Hospital in Girgaum. The hospital had two deceased donors on the same day and requested state-run JJ Hospital in Byculla to send its forensic team to its premises to conduct the post-mortem examinations, instead of transporting the bodies to the government hospital.The practice is still unusual in Mumbai. According to ZTCC president Dr Surendra Mathur, this was only the second time a government forensic team had conducted a post-mortem at the hospital where organs had been retrieved. The first was at a hospital in Thane, following a similar request. “It helps reduce the waiting time for donor families,” he said. ZTCC coordinates organ sharing among registered transplant hospitals in Mumbai.Post-mortem examination is mandatory following deceased organ donation, but the additional movement of the donor’s body and the time taken for the examination and police inquest can prolong an already emotionally difficult process for families. In Tamil Nadu, a system is in place that allows post-mortems to be conducted at the hospital where organ retrieval takes place, helping reduce the waiting time for families.H N Reliance Hospital CEO Dr Tarang Gianchandani thanked JJ Hospital dean, Dr Ajay Bhandarwar, and Mumbai Police commissioner Deven Bharti for their coordination during the retrieval and allocation process. She said closer coordination between government and private hospitals could further strengthen the deceased-donation programme.
