NHS campaign urges people to talk about organ donation

The campaign follows research that found less than half of adults in England have had a conversation about the issue.

It aims to encourage people to talk about donating their organs by highlighting the impact not knowing has on the families who are left behind.

In West Sussex, 398,376 people are currently on the NHS organ donor register, with 20 people becoming donors in the last year, but the NHS said needs more people to talk with their families about their decision.

According to the health service, many still don’t realise that families will still be approached before any donation goes ahead.

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It follows the law change last year in England, which means that all adults are seen as willing to donate their organs unless they opt out or are in an excluded groups.

Anthony Clarkson, director of organ and tissue donation and transplantation for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “People often tell us that they struggle to find the right time or words to talk about organ donation, unfortunately we see first-hand the impact not knowing has on families when the first time they consider their loved ones wishes around organ donation is when they are seriously ill or have already died.

"Talk to your friends, talk to your family.

"Even though the law has changed, you can still sign up to the NHS organ donor register to provide your family with added reassurance. Please don’t wait.

"Have the conversation today.”

As part of the campaign, a new TV advert launched this week featuring the Kakkad family.

Shivum Kakkad’s father Bharat died from a cardiac arrest when he was 63 in May 2019, but the family had never spoken about organ donation.

The advert features family footage and memories of Bharat but ends with another memory - when they asked Shivum if his father wanted to be an organ donor and he just didn’t know.

Significantly, Shivum and his family did agree to organ donation, but it was a decision that the NHS claims could have been made easier if they’d had the conversation.

Shivum said: “My father was a very giving person. He did charity work and was a strong believer in the Hindu act of sewa, of service to god.

"When the specialist nurse approached us about organ donation, we made our decision.

"We knew that helping others in need was what my father would have wanted.

"But I wish we had spoken about it to know for certain and I would urge others to take the opportunity while they still can.”

Shivum hopes that by sharing their family’s story, they will encourage more families, particularly from Asian and other ethnic backgrounds, to support and talk about organ donation.

Bharat went on to help the lives of two other people. He donated a kidney to a woman in her 50s and a kidney to a man in his 60s.