Star of the Week – Olive Johnson

August 30, 2022

Our Star of the Week is Olive Johnson, Senior Theatre Practitioner.

Olive is an extremely valued member of the BMEC theatre team, who also has a unique role within the Trust as being a ‘Person Designate’ to support our Human Tissue Authority (HTA) license compliance to use human tissue within ophthalmology for a broad range of patients with complex eye health needs. This includes the use of donated eyes for corneal and sclera grafts, amniotic membrane and pericardium.

BMEC is required to demonstrate its adherence to strict licensing requirements to maintain our ability to store tissue for our patients and we had our biennial review with the HTA on Wednesday 10 August. Olive worked tirelessly since our last inspection to ensure our colleagues have the knowledge and skills to act within the license, that our tracking and paperwork delivers the need to effectively track tissue from donor to recipient and be an integral member of the HTA Sub Committee, overseeing the HTA activities within BMEC.

By the end of July 2022 BMEC had used 154 tissues (predicted to use 462 by the end of the year). As with all transplants, the gift of an eye is precious and can make the world of difference to our patients and their quality of life. Olive has gone the extra mile time and again to make sure BMEC is able to continue to provide transplants under this license.

Do you know someone in your team that has gone above and beyond the call of duty? Why not put them forward for Star of the Week by clicking here.