A community of practice for critical care physicians who support organ donation
In 2017, Canadian Blood Services established a national Donation Physician Network. This community of practice builds on successful provincial initiatives developed to support critical care physicians specializing in deceased organ donation.
Canadian Blood Services works collaboratively with the Canadian tissue community to develop and implement leading practices to improve the quality and safety of tissue produced in Canadian tissue banks. This work includes leading practice workshops, public awareness and education campaigns, national data collection, publication of Canadian eye and tissue banking activity and the design and implementation of recommendations and systematic reviews for five areas of practice for tissue bioburden reduction and control.
The deceased donation program focuses on evolving the quality and safety of national organ donation services in Canada, which will result in continued improvement for access to lifesaving organs and transplants for all Canadians.
September 2020 - As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, organ donation and transplantation organizations across Canada, including Canadian Blood Services, are meeting regularly to assess the impact the virus is having on organ and tissue donation and transplantation. Together, we are continuing to develop recommendations that can be used by provincial organ donation organizations and regional transplant and donation programs to guide organ and tissue donation and transplantation.
For the last decade the increasingly long waiting lists for cornea transplantation have consistently gained media and government attention. Wait times are often measured in years as opposed to months, meaning the rates of access to cornea transplantation in Canada are on par with, or lower than, the rates seen in some developing countries. Yet, despite all the attention the number of corneas transplanted in Canada has remained unchanged for the last six years and no focused and coordinated efforts have been expended to improve this system.
Beginning in 2012, Canadian Blood Services, on behalf of the Eye and Tissue Data Committee (ETDC), received data submissions from all Canadian eye and tissue programs. Data definitions were established and data training delivered to the Canadian eye and tissue community.
Through a collaborative initiative between the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), Canadian Blood Services (CBS) and the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program (CDTRP), The Measuring Quality in Kidney Transplantation workshop was held in November 2019. Over 80 participants from various stakeholder groups (Appendix 1) were brought together to: (i) develop a pan-Canadian consensus on quality indicators for kidney transplantation and living kidney donation in Canada, and (ii) eventually contribute to quality standards for both these areas.
In 2017, Canadian Blood Services established a national Donation Physician Network. This community of practice builds on successful provincial initiatives developed to support critical care physicians specializing in deceased organ donation. 
National System Performance data - 2018