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Government welcomes taskforce report on Organ Donation

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service. 17 November 2008

- Alan Johnson calls for 25 million people on the organ donor register by 2013 -

An organ donation awareness campaign that will see nearly half the population recruited on the organ donor register was announced today by Health Secretary Alan Johnson. He welcomed the Organ Donation Taskforce Group report, which does not recommend introducing an opt out system for organ donation in the UK at this time.

The report 'The potential impact of an opt out system in the UK', published today, has concluded that introducing an opt out or 'presumed consent' system in the UK at the present time, whilst having the potential to deliver benefits, may not increase organ donation rates and might cause significant complications.

The Government is not ruling out a future change in the law, and may need to revisit this issue if progress against national objectives is not as swift as it should be.

It is hoped that donor rates will rise from the current 800 to 1,400 per year by March 2013, which would put us on a par with the best in Europe. On average, each donor can help three people in need, so this could mean an extra 1,800 people a year get the chance of the transplant they so desperately need.

£4.5m funding has been made available over the two years 2008-2010 for a major campaign starting in March 2009 to make people aware of the importance of organ donation.

The Government is firmly committed to seeing organ donation rates rise significantly and is fully supporting the implementation of the recommendations in the Taskforce's first report. A large programme of work is already well underway, which should deliver the increase in donor rates without the need to change the law. This work includes:

- Each Trust appointing an organ donation 'champion' to discuss organ donation with families as part of all end of life care where appropriate.

- Reimbursing Trusts for donor management activity - the first payments were made in August. This will encourage staff to consider the possibility of organ donation.

- Recruiting 63 new donor transplant co-ordinators across the UK by March 2009

- Establishing a UK-wide network of dedicated organ retrieval teams across the UK to ensure timely and high quality organ removal from viable donors.

- Training is already in place for donor transplant co-ordinators, run by NHS Blood and Transplant.

Health Secretary, Alan Johnson said:

"I am grateful to the Chair of the Taskforce, Elisabeth Buggins, and all the members for their careful and thorough examination of this difficult issue. We need to dramatically increase organ donation but the Government and the NHS can't achieve this alone. We need a much greater public understanding that organ donation saves lives.

"The Taskforce has presented a well-balanced analysis of a substantial body of evidence drawn from a wide range of groups, including healthcare professionals, organ recipients, donor families, representatives of faith groups, and members of the public.

"I accept their conclusions and recommendations, and support the priorities for action they have identified. The Taskforce conclude that donation rates equivalent to those achievable through the best presumed consent systems could still be possible without a change in the legal framework - and I therefore accept their recommendation that we should aim to achieve these rates without the complications associated with a change in the legal position.

"The Government wishes to see more progress more quickly to ensure that UK patients have the best possible chance of getting the treatment they need. We have therefore set a further challenge as part of the implementation of the Taskforce's second report. We would like to see 20 million people registered on the organ donor register by 2010 working towards 25 million on the register by 2013.

"If, however, we do not see the number of organ donations rising and progress is not being made we will revisit the issue of whether a change in the law is needed."

Notes to editors

1. The Organ Donation Taskforce Report is available at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/organdonationtaskforce

2. The Organ Donor Register can be contacted on: 0845 60 60 400.

3. Currently around 8,000 people in the UK need a transplant, rising by about 8% a year. However only 25% of the population are on the organ donor register and there are not enough donated organs to save people's lives in the UK.

4. In 2006, Ministers established an Organ Donation Taskforce, Chaired by Elisabeth Buggins, Chair of the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority, to consider options for improvement of organ donation rates within existing legal framework. The Report was launched on 16 January 2008 and all its recommendations were accepted by Ministers.

5. In his 2006 Annual Report "On the state of public health" published on 17 July 2007, the Chief Medical Officer recommended that:

* legislation be amended to create an opt-out system for organ donation
* more opportunities be taken to increase donation in hospitals and to maximise organ transplantation
* there are targeted campaigns aimed at increasing organ donation in ethnic minority populations

6. In the light of this advice, and in recognition of the range of views on opt out systems and the complex issues they raise, Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Health, asked the Taskforce to:

'examine the potential impact on organ donation of introducing an "opt out" or presumed consent system in the UK, having regard to the views of the public and stakeholders on the clinical, ethical, legal and societal issues, and publish its findings'.