A Transplant Website in Today’s World

ABSTRACT

With the aid of a professional developer, the South West Transplant Centre designed and launched a website in September 2006 to provide patient friendly information in all aspects of renal transplantation and health professionals with transplant related e-book protocols alongside research materials, printable referral forms and statistical data including survival figures. The aim of this paper is to report on our experience of the first year of operating such a website. The website consists of approximately 500 pages covering subjects ranging from transplant related procedures to the transplant procedure itself. During the first year the total number of hits on SWTC website were 70,971 with April 2007 having a peak of 10,357 hits. There was sustained interest in the website throughout the year and the amount of information (kilobytes) downloaded was highest during the first three months. Regular visitors to the website come from several countries across the globe including the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Seychelles, Canada, France and the US. A well-designed website is a useful tool for increasing awareness of Unit activities, increasing organ donation, providing information and in some instances training people in geographically remote areas. To maintain relevance transplant websites require to be upgraded on a regular basis by transplant clinicians and relevant sections expanded to meet the needs of the public.