Organ donation ‘should be put on an opt-out basis’

EVERYBODY should be treated as a potential organ donor unless they explicitly ask to opt out of the system, Britain’s chief medical officer said yesterday.

Liam Donaldson said reversing the system would help tackle an organ shortage that leads to the deaths of hundreds of patients on waiting lists each year.

“There are simply not enough organs donated to meet the need for transplants, with one person dying every day while waiting,” he said.

The number of donors on the NHS register needs to treble to meet demand, he said.

“I believe we can only do this through changing the legislation to an opt-out system with proper regulation and safeguards,” he added.

Under current laws, donors must opt in. The changes would mean patients were presumed to have given consent.

The government rejected similar proposals in 2004. The Department of Health said Mr Donaldson’s report would be given “careful consideration”.

A spokesman said: “Ministers have established an Organ Donation Task Force to look at the barriers to donation and we are awaiting their report.

“Recommendations will be made to ministers later this year on how donation rates could be improved.”

Opponents say apathy should not be interpreted as a desire to donate organs. Some patients oppose donation for religious and moral reasons.

However, surveys suggest up to 70% of British people support the idea of donating their organs — though only a fifth of the population, 13 million people, have their names on the NHS register.

One-in-10 heart patients dies while waiting for a transplant, while the average wait for a kidney is two years.