NHS issues first-ever urgent organ donation alert with 9 people dying every week

The NHS is launching its first ever urgent organ donation response plan after a fall in donations.

A record transplant waiting list means nine people a week are currently dying because no suitable organ is available. NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) says donor numbers are 9% below this time last year, and is launching an urgent appeal for people to sign the organ donation register.

Some 8,700 patients are now on the waiting list desperately waiting for a transplant because fewer grieving families have been consenting to donate their loved ones’ organs since the COVID-19 pandemic. Family consent rates are down almost a fifth in the last five years, having dropped from 68% down to 59%.

Health chiefs say there has also been a shift in the circumstances in which people are dying, meaning there are fewer opportunities for organ donation. NHSBT is making an urgent appeal for one million Brits who have never registered before, to confirm their wishes on the NHS Organ Donor Register this year. Each donor can potentially save up to nine lives.

Anthony Clarkson, director at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “We are facing one of the most challenging periods for organ donation in over a decade. The sharp decline in donors and the rising number of people waiting for a transplant need urgent action.

“We have already adapted significantly to changes in the donation environment. But, saving lives and reducing the waiting list needs collective effort across the NHS and society.”

The teen from Northamptonshire had signed the NHS Organ Donation Register so parents Nicola and David knew her wishes and consented to her donating. Miriam’s liver went to Ollie Jolliff, from Dorset, who needed a transplant at 11-months-old in 2016 due to a genetic condition.

Nicola said her daughter's death was "completely out of the blue". She said: “Miriam had registered on the Organ Donor Register when she was registering to give blood and as a part of the process, she had also told us her wishes. So, we knew we had to honour them. She wanted to offer everything she could and positively impact as many lives as possible.”

The transplant saved Ollie’s life but came after his elder brother Kieran had died from the same condition four years earlier.

Their mother Hannah Jolliff said: "Sadly, a transplant wasn't an option for Kieran and he passed away at four years old, having spent most of his life in hospital. It was incredibly difficult and we miss him every single day.

"Ollie was on the list for 11 months, time which we spent in and out of hospital, unable to travel in case we got the call, and desperately hoping that Ollie would get the transplant he needed. We got the call to say that a match had been found for Ollie on the morning of what would have been Kieran's 10th birthday.

"It's 10 years this year since Ollie received his transplant and he's doing so well - he's going into his last year of primary school, he's got passions and interests and he's living his life like any other 10-year-old boy. We feel incredibly lucky."

Nicola said: "When we heard from Hannah and Mike and learned that Miriam's liver had gone to tiny Ollie, it was such an emotional moment.