Organ donation week: what we all need to know

One organ donor can save or transform the lives of up to nine people.

But sadly every day in the UK, three people die in need of an organ.

Organ donation week is now on and runs until Sunday 8 September, and there’s something important everyone should know: in spring 2020, the law on organ donation is changing. All adults will be automatically opted-in as a donor, unless they state otherwise.

UNISON NHS Blood and Transplant Chair Bev Easton, explains: “The difficulty with organ donation comes from the fact that, when someone is passing away, it’s such an emotional time and families can become protective.

“If your family doesn’t know what your preferences are before you die, your organs may not be able to help anyone”

“I have a donor card, so it’s clear what my intentions are when I pass away.

“But if I’m someone who hasn’t told my family or made my intentions known, then when I die my family can turn around and say they didn’t know anything about this, and my organs that could have saved several lives will all go to waste”

“The coming change in the law is going to flip the existing system on its head: everyone will be automatically registered to be a donor, and you will have to proactively opt-out.”

This means that if you have not confirmed whether you want to be an organ donor – either by recording a decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register or by speaking to friends or family – it will be considered that you agree to donate your organs when you die.

When a donor is passing away, their blood and tissue are sent to a lab for testing. Their blood health and type are measured, and their details are all on file so the Blood and Transplant administration team can quickly find a match that will have the best chance of survival. For example, if someone needs a new heart, the team will look for a donor heart that matches the same blood group.

The time that patients spend waiting for a donor can be life-threatening. Every single day that someone lives without a functioning organ, they’re at serious health risk. The change in the law is designed to reduce waiting times.

Bev adds: “The gift of life is very, very special. It doesn’t matter about creed or colour. The workers in the Blood and Transplant service do everything from beginning to end, and we don’t ever forget the donor families or recipients along the way.

“It wouldn’t work if we didn’t work collectively together – and that’s what we need to do as a society more: work together to maintain human life.”

Find out more about the upcoming change in the law here.

The article Organ donation week: what we all need to know first appeared on the UNISON National site.

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