A Manchester MP is calling on families in Trafford to start the conversation about organ donation.
Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, wants families to use the ongoing Organ Donation Week as a way of encouraging young people to sign up to the register.
She said: “NHS Blood and Transplant’s figures show why it is vital for families to talk about organ donation, so that if the worst should happen, your loved ones aren’t left guessing about your decision.
“There are 31,234 of us from Stretford and Urmston on the NHS Organ Donor Register. But how many of us have simply signed up and not told our family?
“It is vital that we agree to become organ donors if we can. By joining the NHS Organ Donor Register and sharing your decision with your family you could potentially save up to nine lives.”
Every day across the UK, around three people who could have benefitted from a transplant die because there aren’t enough organ donors. And in Stretford and Urmston there are 17 people waiting for a transplant.
NHS Blood and Transplant, the organ donation organisation for the UK, have released figures that show only 47 per cent of families agree to organ donation if they are unaware of their relative’s decision to be a donor. Yet almost 90 per cent of families give their consent when the decision to be an organ donor is known.
You can visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23 if you are interested in becoming an organ donor.
Image courtesy of SME4 Labour via YouTube, with thanks.
