Jeremy Hunt: Mirror donor campaign will save 1,000s
OPT-OUT LAW CHANGE GETS HEALTH SECRETARY’S BACKING:
BRITAIN’S transplant waiting list could be almost entirely eliminated following the Mirror’s successful organ donor campaign, Jeremy Hunt declares today.
More than 6,500 seriously ill people are on the list and three die every day while waiting for a donor to save their life.
But the Health Secretary says our victory in persuading the Government to change the law is a “powerful step” towards eventually ending the waiting list for organs altogether.
In the meantime more organs will become available, slashing the wait for patients like nine-year-old Max Johnson, who finally had a successful heart transplant operation in August.
Writing in the Mirror today, Mr Hunt says: “While these reforms won’t eradicate the transplant list entirely, they will be a powerful step in the right direction.
BOOST
“Our aim is that there will be a positive and substantive effect on the number of organs available for transplant and a reduction in the time people have to wait.”
Theresa May last week announced England will introduce an opt-out donor system, in a bid to boost the number of lives saved by transplant operations.
It comes after our two-year Change the Law for Life campaign, backed by brave Max, who had an enlarged heart, and his parents Emma and Paul of Winsford, Cheshire.
Mr Hunt has set out for the first time how he believes a new opt-out system – coupled with a major push to encourage the nation to discuss organ donation with loved ones – could end the scandal of patients having to wait years for transplants.
Currently, anyone who wants to donate their organs after death has to opt in through the donor card scheme. But under a new system in England, in the absence of express permission it will be presumed an adult’s body can be used for transplants. Wales has already introduced an opt-out system, with Scotland following suit. In his first public comments since the Prime Minister’s announcement, the Health Secretary writes that law change could mean “the difference between life and death” for sick people.He vows to launch a 12-week public consultation on the new donor system before Christmas, and stresses it must be easy for people to opt out if they wish.
Mr Hunt also told the Mirror: “The reality is that, just as most people would be willing to accept an organ if their life was at risk, most would be willing to donate one to help save somebody else.”
He said that as well as making “more potential donors becoming available”, the reforms would mean “more inspirational, life-saving stories like that of Jemima Layzell, 13, who donated organs to no fewer than eight people”.
Reiterating the need for a public consultation on the Government’s plans, Mr Hunt added: “This is an important issue to many people so we must make sure their voices are heard.”
The Welsh system, introduced in 2015, is known as a soft opt-out, so the individual’s family can object. In June, Scotland said it will launch a similar system
of presumed consent, after pressure from the Mirror. In a government consultation, 82% of people were in favour. Now, Mrs May has said she will change the law to bring in an opt-out system in England.
She said: “Our ability to help people who need transplants is limited by the number of organ donors that come forward. We’ll change that system, shifting the balance of presumption in favour of organ donation.” Kidney Care UK policy director Fiona Loud described it as “momentous”.
Sally Johnson, of NHS Blood and Transplant, which co-ordinates the donor scheme, added she hoped the consultation would “drive a national conversation about organ donation”.
For more information search organ donation at www.gov.uk.