Donation Week

Sarah and Tanya marked the end of donation week, by popping along to the blood donation session at Tweedmouth Middle School on Sunday. Well done ladies!

Donation Week was from 3rd – 9th September.
The NHS need more people to sign up to the Organ Donor Register now at http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk. It only takes a few minutes to register and please remember to tell your family that you want them to support your decision to donate and save lives. Ask them whether they want to be donors too.

Check out the link https://www.blood.co.uk/ For more information or to sign up to donate not only Blood or Organ but;

  • Platelet Donation
  • British Bone Marrow Registry
  • Tissue Donation
  • Cord Blood Bank

In the UK

  • Around 6,000 people across the UK are waiting for an organ transplant
  • Only around 6,000 people each year die in circumstances where they can donate their organs
  • Three people a day die in need of a transplant due to a shortage of people being willing to donate organs

About the NHS Organ Donor Register

The NHS Organ Donor Register is a legal and confidential way to record your organ donation decision.

If you die in circumstances where you could be a donor, authorised NHS Blood and Transplant staff can see if you wanted to be a donor or not and what organs/tissue you wanted to donate.

This information helps us when we are talking to your family.

If we can share with them that you had registered a decision to donate they are more likely to support your decision.

Why we promote conversations

Many people believe that all you need to do to show you want to be a donor is to join the NHS Organ Donor Register or carry a donor card.

However, if you die in circumstances where you could become an organ donor your family would be approached by specialist nurses and asked to support your decision to donate.

If you die without registering to donate your organs, we would need to ask your next of kin to make the decision for you.

It can be a big burden for families to make such an important decision at such a difficult time.

Less than half of families approached about donation agree to donate a relative’s organs if they are unaware of their relative’s decision to be a donor.

When a family says no to donation, someone waiting for a transplant may miss out on their only opportunity for a transplant which could save their life.