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Hospital urges people to confirm organ donation wishes

RUH Bath NHS Foundation Trust A group of medical staff at RUH Bath. They are all pictured standing close together in a group, smiling at the camera. Many of them are wearing scrubs, but one woman is wearing a pink Organ Donation t-shirt. One woman is holding a framed certificate and another is holding a box of pink cakes. RUH Bath NHS Foundation Trust
Staff at the Royal United Hospitals Bath are celebrating 30 years of the NHS Organ Donor Register

A hospital is calling on people to confirm whether they would want to donate their organs following death.

Unless individuals "opt out" on the NHS Organ Donor Register, the law assumes they are consenting to organ donation, although ultimately families still have the final say.

But with some unsure of their relative's preference, an increasing number of donations are being turned down, NHS data has revealed.

Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust chair, Alison Ryan, said: "Confirming your decision to donate on the NHS Organ Donor Register makes it clear to your family that you want to be an organ donor."

She added: "We need more people in our local community to confirm their decision on the register to save more lives now and in the future.

"More than 44,000 people in Bath and North East Somerset have already declared their decision through the NHS Organ Donor Register, which is the best way for their family to know what they want."

RUH Bath NHS Foundation Trust Alison Ryan with a colleague, Betty. They are stood side by side, smiling at the camera. Betty is wearing a pink organ donation t-shirt and holding a framed certificate.RUH Bath NHS Foundation Trust
Trust chair Alison Ryan and Betty Muyang, Intensive Care Unit junior sister have visited wards and departments across the hospital to thank staff for supporting donation

Ms Ryan said her own late husband was given an additional 18 years of life "because of the generosity of an organ donation".

"I know first-hand the real difference it makes and the deep feelings of gratitude and respect for the donor which lives in the recipients’ families forever," she added.

The "opt-out" law was introduced in Wales in 2015, followed by England in 2020, Scotland in 2021 and Northern Ireland in 2023, and was designed to increase the number of organs available for donation.

The RUH hospital trust said there are currently 16 people waiting for a donor in the Bath and North East Somerset area.

This Organ Donation Week, the RUH is both celebrating the thousands of lives that have been saved since the register was created in 1994, while also raising awareness of the more than 7,600 people across the UK who are waiting for a transplant.

A spokesperson from NHS Blood and Transplant said: “With more people, both adults and children, waiting for transplants, it’s more important than ever to confirm your organ donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register."

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