Health Minister Edwina Hart is reminding people of the importance of signing up to the organ donor register as part of National Transplant Week.
Latest figures from the end of March show that there were 333 people waiting for an organ transplant in Wales. In 2009-10, 161 organs were transplanted into Welsh residents.
People can sign up to the organ donor register by visiting the NHS Blood and Transplant website or the Donate Wales website.
Currently 826,000 people [27.9 per cent] in Wales are on the organ donation register – an increase of 20,000 people on 2008-09.
Mrs Hart – who will give evidence on organ donation to the Health, Well-being, and Local Government Committee today – said:
“I am pleased that we have reversed the decline in the number of deceased organ donors and are now beginning to see real progress in Wales, however we have much further to go.
“Our intention is to pursue legislative competence for a soft opt out organ donation system in Wales at the earliest opportunity. With this system a patient’s family will still be consulted on whether they wish their relative to donate an organ on death.
“Even once we have received the additional powers, it will still take time to implement and we must therefore continue within the current system to increase organ donation rates.
“It is important that people consider signing up to the register – and vital that they talk to their family about their views on organ donation. NHS Blood and Transplant’s theme for Transplant Week is Heart to Heart, stressing the need for people to have this conversation with their family.
“The £4.2million Assembly Government-funded, purpose-built renal transplant centre at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff will open to patients next month. This will increase current capacity from 90 patients per year up to 160 by 2012.”
Dr George Findlay, Chair of the Welsh Organ Donation Implementation Group, added:
“We can build on this momentum and continue to improve the rate of organ donation through the implementation of the UK-wide Organ Donation Taskforce report recommendations.
“We have clinical leads for organ donation in all Health Boards and there is a network of transplant coordinators across all critical care units in Wales.
“Organ donation is an emotive subject but I believe that the clinical leads and coordinators will have the skills to work with families at the most difficult time to help them through the decision. Organ donation should be considered as a usual part of the dying process in appropriate circumstances, and evidence suggests that families receive a lot of comfort from knowing some good has come out of the death of a loved one.
“This will help to reduce the number of people, who despite being on the organ donation register, do not go on to donate organs.
“That is why people should tell their family about their wishes. This is a key message of both the Welsh Assembly Government-funded, Kidney Wales Foundation-led Donate Wales campaign and NHS Blood and Transplant campaigns.
“The Welsh Organ Donation Implementation Group – bringing together Assembly Government officials, clinicians and the voluntary sector – is developing a communication campaign to further increase awareness of organ donation.”
