Glyn is pictured with Rebecca Westlake, Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation, at the National Transplant Week event in Westminster
Glyn Davies, Conservative MP for Montgomeryshire, is highlighting the importance of people telling family and friends what their organ donation decision is, following recent figures which show family consent increases by 50% if they have been made aware of their decision.
Figures released by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) show that just 45% of families agree to organ donation going ahead if they are unaware of their loved one’s decision to be a donor, but this figure rises to 95% when they are aware of the decision. Glyn recently attended an event in Parliament organised by NHSBT and the British Kidney Association (BKA), which highlighted the importance of ‘spelling out’ organ donation decisions.
NHSBT & BKA also recently held a Transplant Week campaign, which was designed to increase awareness that families will be asked to agree to organ donation, and to encourage more people to join the NHS Organ Donation Register. On average 3 people a day die in need of an organ transplant in the UK because there aren’t enough organs available. Despite the thousands of life-saving transplant operations which take place every year, around 10,000 people are currently in need of a lifesaving organ transplant.
Speaking after the event in Parliament, Glyn Davies MP said:
“I have been a long-term campaigner for increasing awareness of the importance of organ donation. Letting your loved ones know you want to be an organ donor is so important.
“It is devastating for families when someone they love passes away, so it’s not fair to expect them to make the decision for you. We know that families are much less likely to allow organ donation to go ahead if they don’t know it’s what their loved one wanted. If you talk openly to your family about your decision to donate your organs, it could save them a great deal of stress during what is naturally already a traumatic period for them.
“Tell those closest to you that you want to donate your organs after you die. You would be in turn giving the gift of life to some of the 10,000 people in the UK currently needing a life changing organ transplant.”
For more information, please visit www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/partnering-with-nhsbt/council-statistics/, and www.britishkidney-pa.co.uk.
