Background Having a certain illness or health condition does not necessarily prevent a patient from becoming an organ donor and it is possible that palliative care patients dying in hospice setting may still be eligible to donate their corneas. In line with the organ donation law in England, patients are asked about their organ donation wishes. Should a patient choose to become a cornea donor when they die, IPU staff will endeavour to fulfil patient’s wish.

Methods An audit was undertaken to examine the documentation on corneal donations among inpatients who were admitted to IPU between January and March 2023. The nursing team also learned from past cases to avoid missing prospective corneal donations. Additional supporting information was sought from local eye bank to compare the regional corneal donation statistics and ascertain the outcome of retrieved corneas.

Results Results provided by the eye bank confirmed that we have been consistently the second biggest contributor to the corneal donations among hospices in Southeast England and 26 patients have been benefitted since 2022. The audit identified that four patients had their corneas donated but two were not recorded in the notes, and six patient records lacked accurate records of patients’ wishes regarding corneal donation. As a result, the electronic Advance Care Planning template, Verification of Expected Death (VoED) form and daily nursing handover sheet have been amended to track and record patient’s decisions and the liaison with the eye bank if appropriate.

Conclusion The latest corneal donation audit and subsequent implementations have tightened the documentation practice and will enable the IPU staff to support patients’ organ donation wishes more accurately. The encouraging outcomes demonstrated the great joint effort and perseverance by the nursing team and medical team, and the results will be made publicly available to patients, hospice visitors and staff.