UK Transplant Senior Director Gives Evidence To House Of Lords Sub-Committee Investigating Organ Donation In Europe

Main Category: Transplants / Organ Donations
Article Date: 14 Dec 2007 - 3:00 PDT

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UK Transplant Managing and Transplant Director Chris Rudge is to brief peers on organ donation and transplantation in the UK as part of their investigation into the issue throughout the European Union.

Mr Rudge has been invited to give oral evidence to the House of Lords Sub-Committee that is looking at proposals to tackle the EU-wide shortage of organs available for transplantation.

"In the past year, the Ministerial Organ Donation Taskforce has done a significant amount of work in identifying how the UK could dramatically improve the numbers of lives saved or transformed by organ transplants each year. The Taskforce's report and recommendations are currently being considered by the Health Minister and, in the meantime, I welcome this opportunity to brief the Sub-Committee," said Mr Rudge

Other issues he is likely to be asked about include public awareness about the need for more organ donors, steps to tackle organ trafficking across Europe, and presumed consent.

Mr Rudge said: "Our rate of donation continues to lag behind many other European countries', so this investigation into proposals to increase the numbers of transplants across the EU has the potential to benefit more patients here in the UK."

Elisabeth Buggins, Chair of the Organ Donation Taskforce and a non-executive director of NHS Blood and Transplant, has been invited to give evidence to the Sub-Committee in the New Year.

* You can find out more about organ donation by contacting the Organ Donor Line on 0845 60 60 400 or visiting http://www.uktransplant.org.uk

Notes

- The Organ Donation Taskforce was established by the Government in 2006 to identify barriers to organ donation, explore current issues that might have a bearing on donation rates, and recommend action to be taken to increase organ donation.

- While the Taskforce's initial brief was to look at changes within the existing legal framework, in September 2007 Secretary of State for Health Alan Johnson asked Taskforce Chair Elisabeth Buggins to chair a sub-group looking at the issue of presumed consent.

- More than 9,000 people in the UK need an organ transplant to save or dramatically improve their lives but the shortage of donors means that around 3,000 transplants can be performed each year. Around 1,000 patients die each year before receiving the second chance of life from an organ transplant.

- UK Transplant is the NHS organisation responsible for matching and allocating donated organs. It is part of NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), a Special Health Authority within the NHS that manages the National Blood Service, Bio Products Laboratory, and UK Transplant.

UK Transplant