More Organ Donors Sought in Ealing
Numbers signing up have dropped and NHS is appealing to help save lives
5,488 people in Ealing joined the NHS Organ Donor Register last year which is slightly down on the previous year and appeals are underway to get more people to sign up.
In London 142,000 registered - 5% of the total population and latest figures show the capital is lagging behind the rest of the country, with only around 29% registerd as compared to 36% nationally.
NHS Blood and Transplant is appealing to people across London and the surrounding areas to make 2018 a year to talk openly about organ donation with their families, tell them their decision and join the NHS Organ Donor Register if they want to save lives.
One in five people in the UK waiting for a transplant live in London. 30-year-old Jessica Harris from Barnet, who was diagnosed with type one diabetes when she was 13 is just one of the 1,300 people in London waiting. She needs a kidney and pancreas transplant.
She said: “A life on dialysis isn’t fun. I am now normally in hospital every I get admitted to hospital every four to five weeks. “I've not had three months out of hospital in years, so I can’t really plan anything long term.
“A transplant would significantly improve my quality of life. I know someone needs to die for me to have a transplant and that’s really hard. But I just think that if they can live on through me then that could be a great comfort for their family to know they didn’t die in vain.
“Until I needed a transplant I had never thought about organ donation, but I would urge everyone to think about it and sign up. Organ donation gives people like me a second chance at life and to live life the way we should have been able to if we hadn't got unwell.”
Three in ten people (30%) in London asked about organ donation said they have specifically told their partner or family that they want to donate while a third (33%) of adults across England have done the same.
Around 24 million people in the UK have registered their decision to donate on the NHS Organ Donor Register and 2.5 million of them live in London.
Sally Johnson, Director of Organ Donation and Transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Thousands of people across London are given a second chance at life thanks to the organ transplants they receive. This is only possible thanks to those who put other people first, sign the NHS Organ Donor Register and let their families know they want them to agree to organ donation at the most distressing time in their life.
“There are 6,342 people in the UK waiting for lifesaving organ transplants right now so we really need everyone to discuss organ donation: make sure your family knows that you want to donate if you are ever able to. A few words now can make an extraordinary difference.”
· To join the NHS Organ Donor Register visit: www.organdonation.nhs.uk.
Tell your family you want to donate.
7th February 2018