The number of people waiting for a life-saving organ transplant in the United Kingdom has hit a record high while the number of donors and transplants have fallen, according to newly-released data.
Data from NHS Blood and Transplant released on 9 July showed over 8,000 people, including nearly 300 children, were on the active transplant waiting list as of 31 March, making this the highest number on record.
However, there was a 2% drop in life-saving transplants last year compared to the previous year.
NHS director of organ and tissue donation and transplantation Anthony Clarkson said: “Tragically, someone will die today waiting for a transplant.
“We urgently need more people to register their decision to donate and to have these vital conversations with their families.”
The conversations which Clarkson is referring to are those between families regarding organ donation after death.
In 2020, the UK adopted an opt-out scheme with regard to organ donation.
However this can still only go ahead with the family’s support, and current consent rates from families who are asked to support donation when their loved one dies is 59%.
Last year, there were 520 cases during which families did not support donation where the law presumes consent, meaning their loved one had not registered to opt out but also had not expressed any decision.
Furthermore, 173 families overruled their relative’s registered or expressed decision to donate last year.
The falling numbers of donations are having real-time consequences, and last year 463 patients died waiting on the transplant list.
According to the Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Activity Report, published on 9 July, there was a 7% decrease of people donating organs after death, with living donors now making up over 40% of all organ donations.
Kidney transplants are in need of the most, making up for 80% of those on the waiting list.
One such person waiting for a kidney transplant is Lynne Cordery, a 51-year-old mum-of-two from Dagenham.
Cordery has been on dialysis three days a week for three years after complications following a heart transplant in 2022.
She said: “I am so grateful to my heart donor, people are amazing, I think of him all the time, especially on special occasions.
“I am scared I won’t get my [kidney] transplant, the waiting list being so high is scary.”
To find out more, and confirm your support for organ donation, visit the NHS organ donation website, call 0300 123 23 23 or use the NHS app.
Feature image: Marcelo Leal/Unsplash
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