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Organ donation in the UK

  • Last modified date:
    4 January 2008
  • Gateway reference:
    9302

Background to, and context of, the Organ Donation Taskforce's work.

Transplants currently enable about 2,700 people to pursue an active life in the UK every year.  Transplants are the best possible treatment for most people with organ failure.

Kidney transplants are the most commonly performed. Transplants of the heart, liver and lungs are also regularly carried out. As medicine advances, other vital organs including the pancreas and small bowel are also being used in transplants. Tissue such as corneas, heart valves, skin and bone can also be donated.

The increasing effectiveness of transplantation means that many more patients can be considered for treatment in this way but there is a serious shortage of donors.  For some people this means waiting, sometime for years, and undergoing difficult and stressful treatment. Many will die before a suitable organ becomes available.

Around 8,000 people in the UK are currently awaiting a transplant which is why the Government established the UK-wide Organ Donation Taskforce in 2006 with membership drawn from the transplant community (surgeons, nurses and transplant co-ordinators), from NHS management, patient representatives, media, ethics and black and minority interests.  The Taskforce was asked to:

  • take stock of progress within the context of the ten year transplant framework (published in 2003);
  • to identify barriers to organ donation; and
  • to recommend what action needs to be taken to increase organ donation and procurement within the current legal framework. 

The Taskforce report is currently being considered by Ministers.

2006 Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer

The Chief Medical Officer's Annual Report for 2006  (published 17 July 2007) included a chapter on Organ transplants: the waiting game.  The CMO recommended that:

  • legislation should be amended to create an opt-out system for organ donation
  • more opportunities should be taken to increase donation in hospitals and to maximise organ transplantation
  • targeted campaigns should be undertaken aimed at increasing organ donation in ethnic minority populations.

Presumed consent – the current legislative position

Under Part 1 of the Human Tissue Act 2004, it is unlawful to remove, store, or use human organs and other tissue for scheduled purposes without appropriate consent.  The removal, storage and use of an organ for the purpose of transplantation are scheduled purposes in this context.

Appropriate consent is defined within the Act as:

a. If a decision of a deceased person to consent to the activity, or a decision of his not to consent to it, was in force immediately before he had died, his consent.
b. Where such a decision is not in force, then consent is required from either a nominated representative, or, a person in a qualifying relationship (such as next of kin).

The Human Tissue Act 2004 covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  The Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006 covers Scotland and has broadly similar provisions as far as transplantation is concerned.

House of Lords European Union Select Committee

The EU Commission is looking to improve quality and safety in organ transplantation and organ availability and is considering an organ Directive.  The House of Lords European Union Committee (Social Policy and Consumer Affairs (Sub-Committee G)) is conducting an inquiry into organ donation. 

Facts  

  • Currently, between 7000 and  8,000 people in the UK need a transplant, currently rising by about 8% a year.
  • Over the last five years, DH funding - £4.16million in 2006/07 - has supported a number of initiatives to increase donor rates.
  • Progress has been mixed. Although living donor and non-heartbeating donor rates have risen significantly in recent years, the rate of donation by heartbeating (death establish through brain stem testing) donors (the main source of donor organs) has remained steady at best. 
  • Over 14 million people - some 24% of the population - have now registered on the Organ Donor Register.
  • In the UK between 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2007:
    3,086 organ transplants were carried out, thanks to the generosity of 1,495 donors.
    949 lives were saved in the UK through a heart, lung, liver or combined heart/lungs, liver/kidney, liver/pancreas or heart/kidney transplant.
  • A total of 2,137 patients received a kidney, pancreas or combined kidney/pancreas transplant.
  • A further 2,402 people had their sight restored through a cornea transplant.
  • A record number of non-heartbeating donor kidney transplants took place and accounted for one in seven of all kidney transplants.
  • The highest number of combined kidney/pancreas transplants took place (164, representing a 53% increase on 2005-2006).
  • Living donor kidney transplants are increasing - 461 in 2003-2004, 475 in 2004-2005, 589 in 2005-2006, and 690 in 2006-2007, and now represent more than one in four of all kidney transplants.
  • At the end of March 2007, 7,234 patients were listed as actively waiting for a transplant.

Other important publications

Saving lives, valuing donors: one year on (2 October 2004)

Saving lives, valuing donors: one year on describes the progress made by the Government and UKT since the launch of the framework.

Saving lives, valuing donors: A transplant framework for England (7 July 2003)

This document sets out key aims for organ and tissue transplantation over the next 10 years. It describes good practice based on national and international evidence which the Government believes the NHS and society can use together to save lives and maximise the benefits of organ and tissue transplantation.

Organ and tissue transplantation: a plan for the future (1 March 2001)

This document sets out proposed plans on how to increase organ donation.

Additional links

Related links

UK Transplant

At UK Transplant we are doing everything with one focus - to save or improve the lives of thousands of people every year through organ transplantation.

Human Tissue Authority

HTA regulates the removal, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue from the living and deceased.

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