Ocular Tissue Advisory Group

• Wednesday 26 February 2025 - 13:00 to 16:00 via MS Teams
• Thursday 25 September 2025 - 09:00 to 17:00 at NHSBT Filton Centre, Meeting Room William Harvey (G021), 500 North Bristol Park, Bristol, BS34 7QH

Agendas

• Ocular Tissue Advisory Group agenda - October 2024 (PDF 340KB) 
• Ocular Tissue Advisory Group agenda - February 2024 (PDF 193KB) 

Minutes

• Ocular Tissue Advisory Group minutes - February 2024 (PDF 452KB)

Agendas

• Ocular Tissue Advisory Group agenda - September 2023 (PDF 153KB) 

Minutes

• Ocular Tissue Advisory Group minutes - September 2023 (PDF 224KB) 

Agendas

• Ocular Tissue Advisory Group agenda - November 2022 (PDF 148KB)
• Ocular Tissue Advisory Group agenda - January 2022 (PDF 166KB)

February 2024

• Suitability of corneas (PDF 507KB) 

October 2024

• Corneal donation and transplantation equity (PDF 880KB)
• Corneal donation and transplantation activity (PDF 342KB) 

September 2023

• Corneal donation and transplantation activity (PDF 324KB)
• Statistics and clinical research update (PDF 289KB) 

Purpose

• To advise NHSBT on appropriate aspects of ocular tissue donation, retrieval, storage and allocation
• To help promote ocular tissue transplantation
• To advise on equity of access and best outcomes for patients

Membership

• Voting members
  • The chair
  • Regional representatives (see section 5)
    Consultant ophthalmic surgeon specialising in corneal transplantation from each of 12 regions of the UK:
    Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, London and South East England, South Central, South West, East Anglia, East Midlands, Yorkshire, North East, North West
  • Medical Directors of Speke and Filton Eye Banks
• Non-voting members
  • Representatives from Department of Health and Social Care
  • Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation (OTDT)
  • OTDT Medical Director
  • Head of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Studies, NHSBT
  • Statistical lead for Ocular Transplantation
  • Chairs of Clinical Governance and Research and Audit sub-committees
  • Tissue & Eye Services Lead Nurse
  • Assistant Director Tissue and Eye Services, NHSBT
  • Representatives of Moorfields and East Grinstead Eye Banks
  • Transplantation Management Representatives
  • The Chair, in discussion with members of OTAG, may co-opt other members, as appropriate

Chair and deputy

• Appointment
  • Applications for the chair will be invited from transplant health care professionals and will be appointed by NHSBT
• Tenure
  • The Chair will be appointed for 3 years in the first instance, with the option of renewal for a subsequent term of two years
• Support
  • The Chair, and the Advisory group, will have defined administrative and statistical support from NHSBT to help deliver the aims of the group
• Appraisal
  • The Chair will meet the Medical Director every year for a formal review of progress made, to agree targets for future work and a work plan
• The Chair, together with the Medical Director, will meet as appropriate, with relevant, interested parties, including patient representative bodies, patient groups and disease-specific patient bodies
• Deputy Chair
  • The Advisory Group will agree a Deputy Chair who will assume the role and duties of the Chair when the Chair is unavailable, when there are possible conflicts of interest or at the request of the Chair

 Sub-groups

• Governance Sub-committee
  • The governance sub-committee will review reported adverse events, reactions and outcomes, review existing guidelines on selection, allocation and monitoring of outcomes, and advise on the establishment, development and implementation of clinical standards
• Audit, Clinical and Research Sub-committee (ACR)
  • The ACR will be responsible to OTAG for suggesting and coordinating audits, reviewing and approving (where appropriate) applications for access to data. It will review and initiate clinical research studies, advising on standards where appropriate
• Membership
  • The Chair and membership of each sub-committee will be determined by OTAG. The Chair of OTAG will not normally be Chair of a Sub-committee but may attend as a non-voting member
• The frequency of the sub-committee meetings will be at the discretion of the Sub-group Chair and reviewed every three years
• Sub-committees will report formally to each meeting of OTAG
• Policies and standards will be proposed to OTAG and, when accepted, will be forwarded to the Clinical Governance Committee within NHSBT and then to the Senior Management Team and Transplant Policy Review Committee for formal endorsement by NHSBT
• Sub-committees may hold open meetings with wider representation of the transplant community
• Fixed time working groups to be set up when appropriate

 Regional representatives

• Regional representatives appointed after inviting expressions of interest from the region via the existing regional representative and ballot by corneal surgeons within the region
• Regional representatives will be responsible for bringing to OTAG any relevant concerns or suggestions from the centres they represent
• Where possible concerns and suggestions should be in writing so that the paper can be circulated prior to the meeting
• Regional representatives are responsible for circulating minutes, other discussion items, and items of relevance within their region
• Each representative will be appointed for a period of 3 years and may be re-elected
• To ensure continuity of the work of OTAG, the selection process will be held so that one third of the regions select or re-select representatives each year on a rotational basis

 Role of OTAG

• Consider at each 6-monthly meeting and advise NHSBT on operational aspects of transplantation including donor selection criteria, recipient selection criteria, methods of tissue allocation, and data analysis with respect to activity and outcome
• Advise NHSBT and other bodies on appropriate methods of monitoring outcomes and interpretation of findings
• Monitor and report on clinical governance with special reference to outcomes and deviations from expected outcome, as well as deviation from agreed protocols in selection and/or allocation
• Advise on equity of access of NHS entitled patients to transplantation throughout the UK
• Evaluate and advise on issues raised by investigations into triggers from outcomes analysis, investigations and other issues
• Identify and promote areas of audit, research and development
• Advise NHSBT on matters of practice or policy that require consideration within a broader framework
• Liaise as necessary with professional bodies in the development of national standards.
• Provide 6 monthly reports on clinical governance
• Respond to, and advise on, aspects of donation and transplant policy that arise from legal and/or policy developments both within the UK and more widely
• OTAG will identify areas where new or revised national guidelines relating to transplantation are needed. Where appropriate, NHSBT will then commission the appropriate professional body to develop the guidelines and, if adopted, these guidelines will be endorsed by NHSBT. Guidelines must be patient, rather than centre, focused and consistent with all current national legislation

Minutes

• The minutes of each meeting will be taken by the NHSBT Secretariat
• The minutes and all papers of the Advisory Group meetings that could be requested under the Freedom of Information Act will be published (when approved) on the NHSBT website, unless they contain patient - identifiable material
• Minutes will be circulated electronically

 Budget

• OTAG will be allocated an agreed budget, administered by NHSBT, which will include travel expenses, hosting of meetings, working parties, consensus meetings and other relevant activities
• Accountability for the budget will be with the Chair of the Group, but the budget will be held within NHSBT

 Statistical and analytical support

• OTAG will be allocated an agreed level of support from the Directorate of Statistics and Clinical Research to support the activities of the group. This support will be used for analysis of outcomes, audit, governance issues, service evaluation, modelling of alternative methods of service delivery and other projects, as agreed with the Chair of the Advisory Group, Statistical Lead for Ocular Transplantation, Head of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation studies and OTDT Medical Director
• The Chair of the Advisory Group, Head of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation studies and OTDT Medical Director will meet at least every 6 months to agree the agenda, new projects and assign priorities

Administrative support

• The Clinical and Support Services section of NHSBT will provide an agreed level of administrative support, to help with the planning and organisation of meetings, minute taking and other relevant matters

 Notes

• If an agreement cannot be reached by consensus, a vote will be taken: a majority will be binding. The Chair will have a casting vote but will not take part in the initial vote
• The Advisory Group will meet at least twice a year at a venue to be agreed
• Protocols and policies recommended by the Advisory Group will, prior to implementation, need ratification by NHSBT. Responsibility for implementation of protocols and policies lies with NHSBT
• Equity (in the context of this document) implies that a potential NHS entitled recipient anywhere in the UK will have the same likelihood of being placed on the transplant list and a patient on the transplant list has the same probability of receiving a graft, wherever in the UK he/she resides and at whichever transplant centre the patient is registered. The outcome after transplantation (both short and long-term) will not be affected by centre