German Foundation for Organ Transplantation
| German Foundation for Organ Transplantation (DSO) |
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| Legal form: | Foundation under civil law |
| Purpose: | " Together with the removal hospitals and the transplant centers, we are committed to helping as many people on the waiting list as possible with a transplant with a suitable donor organ. " |
| Chair: | Axel Rahmel (Medical Director) Thomas Biet (Commercial Director) |
| Consist: | since October 7, 1984 |
| Number of employees: | over 1,000 |
| Seat: | Frankfurt am Main |
| Website: | dso.de |
The German Organization for Organ Transplantation (DSO) is the nationwide coordination center for post-mortem organ donations . It organizes the organ donation process from the notification of a possible donor by a hospital to the handover of the organs to the transplant centers . She also does general information work on the subject of organ donation.
It was founded on October 7, 1984 by the KfH Board of Trustees for Dialysis and Kidney Transplantation in Neu-Isenburg. The DSO is a non-profit foundation under civil law that employs over 1,000 people, around 200 of whom are full-time.
In June 2000 the DSO took over the tasks of the nationwide coordination office. Their tasks were set out in a contract with the German Medical Association , the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds and the German Hospital Society.
The work is financed by a budget that the DSO negotiates prospectively with the health insurance companies for one year. It depends on the expected number of transplanted organs. The DSO reimburses the hospitals that were involved in organ donation with a corresponding reimbursement of expenses in the form of lump sums.
In June 2012, the Federal Council passed the revision of the Transplantation Act. After the new regulations, which are expected to come into force in autumn 2012, the DSO will be given new tasks with regard to the procedural instructions for the activities of transplant officers and donor identification.
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees is Björn Nashan . The medical director of the DSO is Axel Rahmel, the commercial director is Thomas Biet.
At the beginning of 2013, the DSO was restructured and the federal and state governments were more closely involved. One major change concerns the new orientation of the DSO Foundation Board. It is therefore composed for the most part of institutions that are either structured under public law or, as organizations structured under private law , are commissioned to perform public law tasks according to the Transplantation Act . These include the German Medical Association , the German Hospital Society , the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds and the German Transplant Society . In addition, the federal and state governments, with four out of a total of twelve voting members, have significant influence on the work of the DSO through the federal health ministry and the state health ministerial conference. The position of transplant patients or relatives of organ donors is taken up by two additional members who have no voting rights but the right to propose.
Another essential component of the restructuring of the DSO is a stronger technical-medical orientation of the advisory board. This is to ensure compliance with uniform medical standards in organ donation in all regions.
criticism
In autumn 2011 criticism of the internal organization and working methods of the DSO was made public in anonymous e-mails. It criticized a lack of focus on the needs of potential donors and their families, and the management style within the foundation, which had a negative impact on the work of the employees, was strongly criticized. The media coverage triggered by these e-mails gave the foundation some of the blame for a rather disappointing development in the number of organ donations in Germany despite all the prominent political support for this topic. According to the media, the foundation and its management staff showed deficiencies in the commercial, personnel policy and ethical areas, which led to inefficiencies in the fulfillment of the tasks assigned to it and a confirmation of the skepticism towards organ donation by people who were critical. A revision of the role and tasks of the DSO was called for.
A legal and auditing company was commissioned by the DSO Board of Trustees. As a result of the special assessment, it was determined that the examination of a large number of allegations against the board of the DSO did not reveal any misconduct. Nevertheless, politicians and journalists continued to evaluate the processes within the foundation critically, also because the foundation did not allow third parties to view the ostensibly exonerating report. The commercial director of the DSO, Thomas Beck, resigned due to the "persistent attacks on his person despite the exonerating report".
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tasks and goals , dso.de
- ↑ Coordination agency contract (announcement of February 15, 2016, BAnz AT February 18 , 2016 B2 )
- ↑ DSO faces new challenges . Press release of the German Organ Transplantation Foundation, April 24, 2013
- ^ Allegations against the Organ Transplantation Foundation . Süddeutsche Zeitung, December 29, 2011
- ↑ monopoly of the organs . The daily newspaper, May 7, 2012
- ↑ Anonymous allegations: Organ Transplantation Foundation under pressure . Doctors newspaper, October 30, 2011
- ↑ Anonymous accusations: Organ donation foundation in the twilight . Der Spiegel, March 30, 2012
- ↑ Organ donation foundation loses board member. Der Spiegel, April 21, 2012
- ↑ Four company cars in six years . The daily newspaper, April 22, 2012