13 January 2008
Gordon Brown has called for a "long-overdue" debate on reform of organ donation procedures that would help provide a greater number of organs for transplant patients throughout the UK.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, the Prime Minister said he wanted to start a discussion on organ donation guidelines, including the possibility of adopting a policy of presumed consent. Allowing surgeons to automatically use organs, subject to family agreement, of all patients that have not specifically opted-out of the donation system would help save many more lives, he said.
The PM said:
"A different consent system, more like the one used in Spain, could serve to increase donation levels significantly. Of course any ‘opt-out’ system would - in cases where the potential donor is not on the register - leave the final decision with the family: that is only right and proper.
"But a system of this kind seems to have the potential to close the aching gap between the potential benefits of transplant surgery in the UK and the limits imposed by our current system of consent. A serious debate - involving the public most of all, but bringing in professional views and those of religious leaders too - is long overdue."
Mr Brown said that the Organ Donation Taskforce, which will report this week on measures aimed at improving other aspects of organ donation, would be charged with beginning the discussion on changes around the concept of consent.
A review of the donation system could help create a "more compassionate Britain" and help save thousands of lives "that might otherwise be lost", he said.
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