Motorbike riders are always being unfairly labelled as future organ donors, but the truth of the matter is, they probably won’t be!
That’s because when people mention organ donation, the majority would like to join, but only 27% actually become a donor. Are we a nation of all talk and no action?
The organ donor register is a national, confidential list of potential organ donors. After death, their organs can be given to patients who are in need of a life saving transplant. More than 10,000 people in the UK are currently waiting for a transplant, but up to three patients die every day because of the shortage of organ donors. An organ transplant is a very effective way of treating patients’ medical conditions that can no longer be sustained with medical management.
It sounds like a life changing decision but it’s quite the opposite! Organs are only taken once a patient has passed away, and a series of brainstem tests are carried out by a doctor to make sure that no brain activity remains. The donor register is checked and the donor’s family are then contacted to confirm that the patient had still wished for their organs to be donated. This highlights the importance of discussing the decision to become an organ donor with your family. The potential pitfall of not being able to donate a person’s organs due to a family miscommunication is catastrophic for those waiting for a transplant.
The organs that can be transplanted are: kidney, liver, heart, lung, small bowel and pancreas, as well as certain tissues i.e. corneas. You can specify which organs you wish to donate.
There are different forms of organ donation; beating-heart, non-beating heart and living.
Beating-heart transplants are those from patients who have suffered permanent and irreversible brain injury, where a machine continues to provide oxygen to the body, keeping the organs alive (although the brain is dead). This is how most organ donations occur. Non-beating heart transplants are from patients that have died by other means and oxygen to their organs quickly diminishes. Due to the fact their organs deteriorate rapidly, only the kidneys and liver can be donated in this fashion.
Living transplants are from healthy individuals and are almost always the kidney because a patient can live quite happily with just one. This is separate from joining the organ donator register.
The UK has an opt-in approach to organ donation, where potential donors have to notify the NHS of their decision and be put onto a register. One donor can actually save the life of several people because their organs can go to different patients in need of a certain transplant. The donor has no say as to who receives their organs.
There are many opportunities to become an organ donor such as when registering for a driving license or GP, contacting the NHS Organ Donor Register directly and even when applying for a Boots Advantage card.
It’s clear that the current system, which relies on an altruistic decision to join the register, does not meet the demand for organs in the UK. An opt-out approach which is used in other countries across Europe has been debated, where doctors assume everyone has consented to be an organ donor unless otherwise stated. Those people who are opposed to organ donation may ‘opt out’ of the register. The downside is that in an emergency the next of kin, who may feel it was not the wish of the deceased, may not be contactable. People may have not had time to opt out due to a premature death, or may have changed their mind during their lifetime. It does however have the potential to substantially increase the number of organ donors and could decrease the gap between those wanting to join the register and registered donors.
At the moment the government has rejected the idea of an opt-out system but has invested in strategies to increase awareness for organ donation. Until changes are made to the current system, people in desperate need of a life changing organ will have to rely on people not only being generous enough to join the register, but also being pro-active and putting their moral decisions into action.
Please visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk for more
information.
Adam Jakes
4th Year Medical Student HYMS
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