More organs donated, but transplant waiting list rises in Wales

“Their donations allowed over 4,400 people to get the organ transplant they’ve been waiting for to save or vastly improve their lives”.

Figures published today (July 20) reveal 39 West Sussex residents have died waiting for a transplant in the past five years and 94 people in the county are now waiting for a transplant. Charities want a soft opt-out system which is being implemented in Wales rolled out across the UK.

He added that nationally 2013/14 was “almost an outstanding” year for organ donation, which explains the year-on-year drop, while regionally there was a marginal rise in the number of deceased donors last year. It assumes people consent to donate their organs unless they state otherwise.

On average, three people are dying each day as they await a transplant. Another 18 North Yorkshire people benefitted from a living donor transplant, where donors gave a kidney or part of their liver.

The report shows there was 267 patients on the active heart transplant list as of 31 March 2015, for example – an increase from the previous year. It’s still imperative that people sign up because those patients are still in need of a transplant.

“We will be changing the organ donation law on December 1 and moving to an opt-out system for consent – our campaign to encourage everyone to talk to their families will help to bring about this change”.

“The decreases we can see across all types of organ transplant will lead to more deaths if we do not reverse this trend going forward”.

Sally Johnson, director of organ donation and transplantation, urged more people to join the Organ Donor Register, saying: “We can not hope to save more lives unless there is a revolution in attitudes towards organ donation”.

Suzanne Duncan was speaking as the British Heart Foundation (BHF) said a drop in the number of people donating organs in Northern Ireland highlighted the need for a new approach.

“I am very aware that organ donation can only occur as a result of tragic circumstances and it is important that we pay tribute to the organ donors and to their families who made the decision to help others”.

A spokesperson for the organisation said: “Families are much more likely to agree to donation if they know it is what their loved one wanted”. So we would remind everyone – tell those closest to you now if you want to donate your organs and record that decision by joining the 460,269 people from Devon who are already on the NHS Organ Donor Register.

“We understand that families are expected to consider donation in their darkest hour”.

Cases of people whose organs were donated to others after being tragically killed in an accident have inspired more people to follow suit.