The number of people in Yorkshire and the Humber on the organ donor register has increased by almost 70,000 from last year, according to figures from NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT).
The figures, which have been shared by Yorkshire’s organ donation campaign, Be A Hero, to celebrate Organ Donation Week (3 – 9 September), reveal that over 1.9 million people are currently registered as organ donors in the region, that’s around a third of Yorkshire and Humber’s population.
The Be A Hero campaign was launched by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT) in 2015 to raise awareness of organ donation and increase sign ups to the organ donor register in the region. The campaign encourages people to discuss their organ donation wishes with their loved ones and therefore increase family consent rates.
Catherine Penrose, Clinical Lead for Organ Donation, LTHT, explains; “It’s really promising to see such positive progress being made in terms of organ donation in the region. Within the last year, sign ups to the organ donor register have increased, family consent rate is on the rise and the number of organ donors and transplant surgeries has increased.
“The altruism of organ donors and their families is incredibly moving and has gone a long way to reducing the number of people on the transplant waiting list in Yorkshire, however there’s still work to be done. Only 1/3 people in Yorkshire have signed the donor register and sadly, in the past year, 34 people died waiting for a transplant in Yorkshire and the Humber.
“We want to encourage as many people as possible to consider their donation wishes and discuss them with those closest to them. In the event of the loss of a loved one, families will be asked to make the decision to consent to organ donation, even if the deceased was registered as an organ donor. One person has the ability to save up to nine lives through donation and increasing family consent is a vital step in transforming and saving the lives of those on the 483-person waiting list in Yorkshire”.
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