People must make ‘fair’ organ transplant decision

People need to decide if it is fair to accept organ transplants if they are unwilling to donate their organs, say experts. Picture: Rob McDougall/TSPL

PEOPLE need to decide if it is fair to accept an organ transplant if they are unwilling to donate themselves as part of efforts to increase life-saving operations, experts have said.

A UK-wide strategy, published today, calls for national debates to test public attitudes to “radical” actions to increase organ donor numbers.

These could include asking whether those on the donor register should be given a higher priority if they ever need a transplant.

The document, backed by the four UK health departments, will also look at systems where families could be stopped from overriding the wishes of loved-ones who die by not allowing doctors to use their organs.

The report - Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020 - comes ahead of a plan being published by the Scottish Government today (thurs) to build on the ambitions of the UK strategy.

Sally Johnson, director of organ donation and transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said among politicians, NHS staff, patient groups and the public there was an “overwhelming recognition” that a revolution in attitudes to organ donation was essential in the UK.

She said there urgently needed to be a radical change in the percentage of families who agree to donate their relative’s organs.

“Almost everyone would take an organ if they needed one – but only 57 per cent of families agreed to donation when they were asked,” Ms Johnson said.