Transplant ops fall despite change to ‘opt out’ of donation
The number of transplants carried out in Scotland has fallen despite new laws which mean individuals are considered donors when they die unless they opt out when alive
The Human Tissue (Authorisation) (Scotland) Act 2019, which came into force on March 26 last year, was expected to mean more people would receive transplants.
But new figures from NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) show that there has been a drop in the number of life-saving and life-changing operations since the new rules came into force.
According to NHSBT, the total number of transplants from living and deceased donors carried out in 2021/2022 was 339 compared with 359 in 2020/1.
Every year around 50 people die in Scotland in need of a transplant. At the end of the first quarter of 2022/23 there were 531 people on the waiting list -- an increase compared with the end of 2021/22 (508) and considerably higher than the end of 2020/21 (401).
According to the new data, on June 30 this year there were 401 people waiting for a kidney transplant, together with 45 liver patients, 21 waiting for a new heart and 22 for new lung(s).
The latest figures show there are 2,875,547 people in the donor scheme, but 163,587 -- around 3 per cent of the population -- have opted out. In 2018/19, prior to the new legislation, only 7917 people had opted out. The number has steadily grown. A spokeswoman for NHSBT said it was too early to expect the opt out scheme in Scotland to have a significant impact on the number of transplants carried out, adding that "it will
need time for the real results to show".
Sheadded:"ourstudytoevaluate the impact of opt out legislation in Scotland is planned to conclude seven years post implementation in 2028."
Under the opt out legislation, if an adult does not state that they don’t want to be a donor they will be deemed to have authorised donation for the purposes of transplantation.
The rules are subject to safeguards that seek to ensure donation will not go ahead where it would be against the person’s wishes and families are consulted about their loved one’s views before a donation proceeds.
There are also protections in place for certain groups and the new law does not apply to anyone under 16, adults who lack the capacity to understand the new law or adults who have lived in Scotland
for less than 12 months before their death.
People in these groups are able to donate if they want to but donation can only go ahead with explicit authorisation either from themselves or their family.
The Scottish Government acknowledged that there was still a shortage of donors despite the introduction of the new scheme.
A spokesperson said: "The public in Scotland are very supportive of organ and tissue donation, with the highest proportion of people opted in to donate organs and tissue after death of any of the UK nations. While awareness has increased, there is still a shortage of donors and there are around 500 people in Scotland waiting on a transplant at any one time."