Families’ wishes ‘may be ignored’ by donor scheme

FAMILIES of potential organ donors could be overruled under a new model of “presumed consent”, a public consultation has suggested.

Theresa May has pledged to introduce a system of organ donation that would automatically enter everyone on the donor register, unless they had specifically opted out.

Today Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, will begin a public consultation on the change to the law, in a bid to save the lives of 6,500 people currently waiting for transplants.

While 80 per cent of people say they are willing to donate their organs, just 36 per cent are on the register, and relatives are able to block donations, even if the deceased had a donor card.

Figures from NHS Blood and Transplant suggested that in the last year, 1,100 families decided not to allow organ donation because they did not know what their relatives would have wanted, with around 100 further cases where explicit wishes were over-ruled.

People will be asked: “Do you think someone’s family should be able to decide if their organs are donated, if it is different to the decision they made when they were alive?”

It will also suggest that some categories – such as children, and those lacking the mental capacity to take decisions – should be exempt, meaning they would still need to “opt in”.

Mr Hunt called on the public to overcome a “fatal reluctance” to discuss their wishes with their loved ones.

“Every day, three people die for want of a transplant, which is why our historic plans to transform the way organ donation works are so important,” he said. “We want as many people as possible to have their say as we shape the new opt-out process.

“But as well as changing the law, we also need to change the conversation – it can be a difficult subject to broach, but overcoming this fatal reluctance to talk openly about our wishes is key to saving many more lives in the future.”