In a huge step forward for people needing organ transplants, Theresa May has announced that England will “shift the balance of presumption in favour of organ donations”. Rather than being a system that people will have to opt into, they will automatically become donors unless they actively choose to opt out.
Catching Up With The Celts
May’s move comes almost two years after Wales decided to adopt an opt-out donation system and a few months after Scotland announced it too would be opt-out.
Both nations chose a so-called “soft” approach to opt-out donation, which allows families of the deceased to have a veto if they can confirm their relative was against donation but hadn’t officially opted out. Since adopting the soft opt-out, Wales has seen a rise in the number of organs donated and there’s been a 38% fall in the number of patients waiting for a transplant.
Scotland has yet to announce when its opt-out system will begin but it is already one of the UK’s biggest contributors to organ donation. Figures from 2016-17 show that Scotland has the highest consent rate for brain-dead donors at 78%. The lowest consent rate is London’s 59%.
Organs can travel a fair distance – some may even go abroad if there is no appropriate donor match in the UK – so England has benefited from Scotland’s high consent rate. When Scotland becomes an opt-out country, the rest of the UK will benefit even more.
Northern Ireland has also expressed an interest in following suit, without yet making any commitment. It’s only fair that England should also become opt-out and Theresa May is hoping to make that happen.
May admitted to the Tory Party Conference that England’s ability to help those on transplant lists was limited by the number opting in to donation and this costs lives.
“Last year 500 people died because a suitable organ was not available,” she said. “And there are 6,500 on the transplant list today. So to address this challenge that affects all communities in our country, we will change that system.” Although no date has been set, transplant organisations and recipients of donated organs know this is an incredible step.
Ongoing Support for Opt-Out
Simon Gillespie, the chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, said the change “couldn’t come soon enough for patients” and that it would save lives and heartache.
“The Government’s commitment to a soft opt-out system is a commitment to ending the agonising pain felt by families who risk losing a loved one while they wait for a donor,” he said.
The British Medical Association has campaigned hard for opt-out donation throughout the UK and is thrilled by the announcement, with its chairman Chaand Nagpaul calling the news “excellent”. While Nagpaul believes the change will “save many lives” he wants everyone in England to be aware of their rights. “It is important that the new process is well publicised to ensure the public are fully aware of and understand this important change,” he said.
Nagpaul said the fact that an opt-out system would increase the number of transplants meant the NHS must have the staff and resources to meet demand. With the ongoing nursing crisis, hiring the specialist nurses needed to deal with donors, recipients and their families is already difficult. There are still challenges ahead for organ donation teams but cross-party support for this new opt-out legislation means that devoting resources to recruiting donors will no longer be one of them.
In the meantime, to sign up to be an organ donor and save lives, please click here.
by Jo Davey
The post NHS: Finally We Will Automatically Donate Organs appeared first on Felix Magazine.
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