In April 2020, there were 5,414 patients on the waiting list for a life-saving or life-enhancing organ transplant1. Between April 2018 and March 2019,400 patients on this list died waiting for an organ2. The law around organ donation in England changed to an 'opt-out' system on 20 May 2020 and will change to 'a deemed authorisation system' in Scotland in March 2021 (see Box)34. Under each of these systems, unless a person's decision to not donate has been recorded, or the individual is from an excluded group, it will be considered that they have agreed to be an organ donor when they die. These changes are intended to increase the number of donor organs available in England and Scotland, and to save and improve the lives of patients on transplant waiting lists3. Wales currently operates an opt-out system, which has boosted consent rates for donation after brain stem death and circulatory death by 18.8%, with consent rates now at 77%.
展开▼
