This Organ Donation Week, leave your family certain: register and share your decision
Figures reveal missed transplant opportunities because families didn’t know their loved one’s decision
This Organ Donation Week (21-27 September), the Public Health Agency is urging everyone in Northern Ireland to record their organ donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register, and to tell family and friends, so there is no doubt about their wishes.
There are 156 people in Northern Ireland waiting for a transplant, and UK-wide that figure is more than 8,700. Nine people die every week across the UK while waiting for a transplant that never comes.
Family consent rates in Northern Ireland have dropped from 79% in 2020/21 to 64% last year. This mirrors a UK-wide decline, from 67% to 57% over the same period. Families support donation 90% of the time when they know their loved one’s decision, but this falls to around 50% when they don’t, which is why registrations and conversations are vital.
New figures show more than 700 potential donations across the UK did not go ahead between April 2021 and March 2026 because families were not certain of their loved one’s decision, representing around 2,127 missed transplant opportunities.
90% of people in NI support organ donation in principle, but many have not confirmed a decision, some assuming the change to an opt-out system means they don’t need to act. It is important to remember that no-one is automatically added to the Register, unless you record your decision, no detail will be held for you. Donation can still only go ahead with family support, which is why a recorded, discussed decision remains essential even under opt-out.
The Public Health Agency is joining the call for one million people UK-wide who have never registered before to confirm their decision this year, and become ‘One in a Million’. It takes just two minutes.
Catherine McKeown, Organ Donation Promotion Manager at the Public Health Agency, said:
“We know that families, when facing questions about organ donation, are making a decision at a moment of tremendous grief. Joining the NHS Organ Donor Register helps give your loved ones peace of mind that they’re honouring your decision in the rare circumstance where donation is possible – only 1% of people will ever be in a position to donate their organs when they die. If you haven’t yet registered, I’d encourage you to do so today and to talk about it with those closest to you, ensuring you leave them certain.”
Sharon Millen from Waringstown has received two life-saving liver transplants, which have given her 30 years of life she may not have had, and enabled her to become a medal winner at the British Transplant Games and compete at World level. Sharon spoke about how she lives every day to make her donors and their families proud:
“When I became critically ill with acute liver failure at 18 in January 1997, my parents were told to prepare for the worst. Against all the odds, a donor liver became available and that transplant saved my life. Almost 20 years later, when my liver failed again, organ donation saved my life for a second time in November 2016.
Those two transplants haven’t simply allowed me to survive – they have allowed me to live a full and rewarding life. I’ve been able to go to university, build a career as a researcher at Queen’s University Belfast, support other transplant recipients and compete at the British and World Transplant Games. But some of the things I’m most grateful for are the simplest. I’ve had almost 30 additional years with my family and friends – birthdays, Christmases and ordinary everyday moments that I would never otherwise have had. My parents were once told they might lose their 18-year-old daughter; now, as they grow older, I’m incredibly grateful that I’m still here and able to be there for them. Organ donation made that possible.
I will never lose sight of the fact that everything I have been able to do has only been possible because of my donors and their families. Organ donors really are lifesavers. I would encourage everyone to find out more about organ donation, make a decision, register that decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and, importantly, discuss their wishes with their family. My donors didn’t simply save my life – they gave me a life to live.”
Register your decision today at www.organdonationni.info, then talk to your family.