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Organ Donation
Organ Donation and Transplantation
NHSBT is the UK organ donation and transplantation organisation responsible for all aspects of the donation process, and
for matching and allocating solid organs and corneas for transplantation throughout the UK. We also monitor post-transplant
outcomes and manage and promote awareness of the NHS Organ Donor Register.Key achievements at a glance
In 2011/12:
- The number of people on the Organ Donor Register rose to 18.7 million
- Deceased organ donation rose to 34.4% above the 2007/08 baseline, representing a total of 1,087 donors
- The number of deceased organ donors in a rolling 12 month period exceeded 1,000 for the first time ever in November 2010, and has remained consistently above this total to the end of 2011/12
- Live organ donation levels were close to the target of 1,050 (and higher than the 1,023 seen in 2010/11)
- The total number of organ transplants carried out in the period April 2011 to March 2012 was 3,953, an improvement on the 3,725 transplants recorded in 2010/11 and representing an increase of 22.2% above the 2007/08 baseline, despite these achievements over 10,000 people are in need of an organ in the UK.
Liz, Steve and Simon Docker
In October 1994 Liz and Steve Docker's nine-year-old son, Simon, was knocked down crossing a road near their home. He suffered a devastating head injury and despite the best efforts of everyone in the paediatric intensive care unit, Simon died nine days later.
Liz and her husband had discussed the concept of organ donation in simple terms with their children so they were confident it was what Simon would have wanted. Simon had described organ donation as the ultimate form of recycling!
Liz and her husband offered Simon's organs for donation. Liz said: "Personally, the decision was not difficult. However, I do appreciate that other people might find it harder than we did. I would encourage them to think in terms of trying to get at least a small positive outcome from a tragic situation."
We work closely with all of the UK Health Services to support the specific objectives and intentions of their national governments with regard to organ donation. Specifically we are working with the Welsh Government whose legislative programme includes the development of an opt-out system for organ donation.
Organ Donation
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