National charities have come together to launch a #DonationConversation campaign to encourage people to tell their families about their decision to be an organ donor when they die.
An NHS Blood and Transplant survey showed that 8 out of 10 people support organ donation, but half of adults in England have never talked to anyone about donating their organs when they die.
Each year only around 5,000 of the half million people who die across the UK die in circumstances where they could potentially be a donor. Families are approached sensitively about donation, but some can find it difficult to make a decision at a time of grief, especially if they don’t know what their relative wanted.
Families are more likely to say yes to donating a relative’s organs if they have had a conversation about it and their relative had registered to be an organ donor, with nine in 10 doing so in these circumstances. Nevertheless, in the last five years over 500 families have said no to donation despite their relative being on the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Families are approached about donation at a very challenging time and it can come as a surprise to find out a relative had made a decision to donate. This can make it difficult for families to support donation going ahead and their relative saving lives.
Explaining the launch of the campaign to encourage conversations about organ donation, Andy Eddy, Chair of Transplant Sport and also a liver transplant recipient said: “Each year the British Transplant Games sees organ and stem cell transplant recipients competing across a wide range of sports. Doing so would have been unimaginable for them when they were waiting for a transplant and it’s only thanks to people donating that they will be competing in Liverpool.
National charities have come together to launch a #DonationConversation campaign to encourage people to tell their families about their decision to be an organ donor when they die.
An NHS Blood and Transplant survey showed that 8 out of 10 people support organ donation, but half of adults in England have never talked to anyone about donating their organs when they die.
Each year only around 5,000 of the half million people who die across the UK die in circumstances where they could potentially be a donor. Families are approached sensitively about donation, but some can find it difficult to make a decision at a time of grief, especially if they don’t know what their relative wanted.
Families are more likely to say yes to donating a relative’s organs if they have had a conversation about it and their relative had registered to be an organ donor, with nine in 10 doing so in these circumstances. Nevertheless, in the last five years over 500 families have said no to donation despite their relative being on the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Families are approached about donation at a very challenging time and it can come as a surprise to find out a relative had made a decision to donate. This can make it difficult for families to support donation going ahead and their relative saving lives.
Chairman of Transplant Sport UK
Explaining the launch of the campaign to encourage conversations about organ donation, Andy Eddy, Chair of Transplant Sport and also a liver transplant recipient said: “Each year the British Transplant Games sees organ and stem cell transplant recipients competing across a wide range of sports. Doing so would have been unimaginable for them when they were waiting for a transplant and it’s only thanks to people donating that they will be competing in Liverpool.
“The sad reality is that on average three people die in need of an organ transplant every day across the UK due to a shortage of people being willing to donate, and due to their families not giving consent.
“We hope that, alongside a number of charities, our #DonationConversation campaign will draw important attention to how organ donors transform lives and encourage people to make clear to their families whether they want to save lives, if they can, when they die. Ultimately, we want more people to have the donation conversation with their loved ones and join the NHS Organ Donor Register, so more people across the UK can benefit from the life-saving gift of organ donation.”
If you want to become a donor, join the NHS Organ Donor Register at www.organdonation.nhs.uk or by calling 0300 123 23 23. Remember to have the Donation Conversation with your family.