23 September 2024

This Organ Donation Week (23rd – 29th September) NHS Blood and Transplant and Blackpool Teaching Hospitals are celebrating the fact that the NHS Organ Donor Register has been saving lives for 30 years through the gift of organ donation.

Since its creation in 1994, thousands of lives have been saved thanks to people agreeing to donate their organs after death by confirming their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register.

However, more people than ever before are in need for a life-saving transplant across the UK, with more than 7,600 people on the active waiting list, including 20 people in our local area – so it’s vital that people confirm their organ donation decision to save lives.

145,038 people in Blackpool, Fylde & Wyre have already declared their decision to donate through the NHS Organ Donor Register, which is the best way for their family to know what they want. 9 out of 10 families will support organ donation if their loved one had confirmed their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register.

With the law changing around organ donation, it is important to remember that it is assumed that when someone dies in the circumstances where they could be a donor, that they agree to donate if they haven’t officially opted out. However, no-one is automatically added to the Organ Donor Register. You still need to confirm your decision and your family will be consulted before donation goes ahead.

 

Dr Jason Cupitt, Clinical Lead for Organ Donation, 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, leaving them certain of your decision at what is a difficult and emotional time. We need more people to confirm their decision on the register today in order to save more lives now and in the future.”

During Organ Donation Week, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals will be supporting the campaign by holding various activities including:

  • A daily stand on the hospital mezzanine between 12pm – 2pm. Colleagues and visitors can ask questions around organ donation and there is the opportunity to sign up on the Organ Donor Register
  • A stand In the Houndshill shopping centre on Saturday, 28 September
  • “Turn The Peaks Pink” challenge. NHS staff, organ donor families and transplant recipients are descending on the 5 highest peaks across the UK to raise awareness for organ donation

The Organ Donor Register was set up to promote organ donation and allow people to record their decision to donate. It was the result of a five-year campaign by John Cox and his daughter Christine after their son and brother, Peter, died in 1989. He had asked for his organs to be used to help others.

 

Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation for NHS Blood and Transplant, said:

“Thanks to the support of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals during Organ Donation Week, we can get the message across to more people that organ donation saves lives.

“Every day across the UK thousands of patients and their families are waiting for a life-saving call. But this can often only happen as a result of another family receiving very difficult news and supporting organ donation to help others.

“Thanks to the Cox family’s relentless campaigning the NHS Organ Donor Register has potentially saved the lives of thousands of people. This is an incredible legacy for Peter, and we are so very grateful to the whole Cox family for their tireless work over the years which made this possible.

“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. We urge everyone to take a moment this Organ Donation Week to register and confirm your decision.”

To find out more and confirm your decision, visit the NHS Organ Donor Register at www.organdonation.nhs.uk. Users of the NHS app can also use this to record, check or amend their details or decision.

 

Organ donation

  • It is quick and easy to register your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register. Call 0300 123 23 23 or visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk 
  • Families are always involved in organ donation discussions. You can make things easier for your family by telling them what you want to happen.
  • Anyone can join the NHS Organ Donor Register; age and medical conditions are not necessarily a barrier to donation.
  • One donor can save or transform up to nine lives through organ donation and save and transform even more by donating tissue.
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