Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to (a) increase the rate of consent to deceased organ donation and (b) measure changes in attitudes towards deceased organ donation with regular public surveys.

Jane Ellison

The ‘Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020: A UK strategy’, published in July 2013, set out our plans for the United Kingdom to be among the best in the world for organ donation and transplantation. It also highlighted an aim to increase the consent/authorisation rate to donation and to make donation an accepted part of end of life care. Progress is measured through registration on the NHS Organ Donor Register and through actual donor numbers. NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) the organ donation organisation for the UK evaluates the effectiveness of its communications in raising awareness, and having a positive impact on public perceptions of deceased organ donation, through regular tracking research.

NHSBT is taking a number of steps to improve the rate of consent to deceased organ donation. As part of the behaviour change communication strategy, NHSBT has stressed in publicity and promotional material the important role conversations about organ donation within families have in improving consent rates. Families are encouraged to discuss organ donation, to talk about their decisions and to join the organ donor register. This includes the newly designed organ donor card. The message during National Transplant Week this year was the need to have conversations with families about donation.