Taskforce to look at presumed donor consent
20 Sep 07
All adults could be potential organ donors unless registered as opting out
The UK-wide organ donation taskforce is to look at the question of whether all adults should automatically be included on the organ donor register.
Under the move, requested today by Westminster Health Secretary Alan Johnson, the taskforce will consider the principle of “presumed consent” - assuming that everyone could be considered as a potential organ donor, unless they had registered to opt out before their death.
The aim of the proposal is to increase the number of donors on the register - there are currently about 8,000 people in the UK needing organ transplants but only 3,000 operations carried out every year.
The taskforce will look at the complex moral, medical, ethical and legal issues involved.
Mr Johnson said that more than 400 people died every year while waiting for a transplant, and something had to be done to increase the number of donors in order to save lives.
Elisabeth Buggins, the chair of the organ donation taskforce, said she would be establishing a special subgroup to take the issue forward.
Scotland’s Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "We have always welcomed debate on this issue, since such a change would need strong backing by both the public and the health professions before it could be made to work.
Recognising that the same standards should apply throughout the UK, she added: "I very much share Alan Johnson's aspiration that organ donation rates in every part of the UK should match the rates in other European countries such as Spain."