Eye donation in Sydney metropolitan palliative care units

Organ donation is generally accepted within the medical profession as a beneficial practice with demand continuing to exceed supply. For patients who are dying from cancer opportunities for organ donation are generally limited to eye donation. Between July 1, 2006 and 30 June 2007 over 2000 deaths occurred in nine palliative care units (PCUs) in metropolitan Sydney. Of these deaths only 50 patients became eye donors. Donors came from only four of the nine inpatient PCUs. Of these four, two provided nearly 90% of the eye donations. Only two PCUs in the Sydney metropolitan area provide significant numbers of eye donations. There are likely to be a number of factors contributing to the low rate of eye donation from PCUs and these are discussed in detail.