ORGAN DONATION AWARENESS WEEK 19th – 25th SEPTEMBER 2022…

ORGAN DONATION AWARENESS WEEK – 19^th – 25^th September – Organ donation is when you decide to give an organ to save or transform the life of someone else.

You can donate some organs while you are alive, and this is called living organ donation. However, most organ and tissue donations come from people who have died.

This year Organ Donation is asking everyone to go pink for the week! Whether you bake a pink cake, wear pink socks, paint a pink unicorn or drink a pink drink we want to see what you get up to.

The British Liver Trust wrote that they will be supporting Organ Donation Week (19th to 25th September 2022) by celebrating the lifesaving gift of organ donation by sharing liver transplant stories and raising awareness of the importance of signing up to be an organ donor.

Organ Donation Week aims to encourage people to join the organ donor register and to share their decision with their families. Right now across the UK, there are over 600 people actively waiting for a liver transplant.  Sadly, around one in ten people die or have to be removed from the waiting list before they receive a transplant because their condition has deteriorated.

Currently, more than 30 million people in the UK have registered their organ donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register, with more than 27 million of them explicitly agreeing to be organ donors when they die, but this still only represents around 44% of the UK population.

Even though the law around organ donation has now changed to an ‘opt out’ system across England, Scotland and Wales, family members will still always be involved before organ donation goes ahead. This means it is just as important as ever to register your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and ensure your friends and family know what you want and will support your decision.

How Organ Donation Works – You read about organ donation on the Organ Donation website and think about what’s right for you.

You register your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register.

This will give your loved ones the certainty they need to support your choice.

You talk to your loved ones about what you’ve decided.

They will be expected to support your decision if you die in a way that means organ donation is a possibility, and clinicians will never proceed if your family objects.

If you die in a way that means organ donation is a possibility, a specialist nurse will access the NHS Organ Donor Register to see if you had registered a decision.

The specialist nurse will discuss your decision with your loved ones, or if you hadn’t registered a decision, ask your loved ones if they know your feelings about organ donation.

If a deemed consent or opt out system applies where you live, it will be considered that you are willing to become a donor, unless you’ve opted out or are in one of the excluded groups.

If you had registered a decision to donate, or your family inform the specialist nurse that it’s what you would have wanted, you could go on to save up to nine lives.

If you had registered a decision not to become an organ donor, this will be respected.

For more details on who and what you can donate just head to the Organ Donation website.

Remember to use #organdonation and tag us @nhsorgandonor so they can see your brilliant efforts!

Source: Back Pain Blog UK Organ Donation NHS British Liver Trust