Deceased Donor Allocation
Requested Allocation of a Deceased Donor Organ
On 29 March 2010, the Department of Health announced a change of UK-wide deceased donor organ allocation policy.
The new policy guidelines enable people to inform transplant teams of their wishes for the allocation, after their death, of one of their, or their loved ones organs to a family member or close friend in need of a transplant and who would meet the requirements to be considered for a transplant.
The published guidelines make clear that priority will still be given to those in urgent need, for example, on the heart or liver super urgent lists, where clinically appropriate and consent to donation, they say, must never be conditional on the requested allocation going ahead. However, a request for an organ to be given to a family member or close friend will be considered if there is no one else on the super urgent list who is a compatible match.
Independent report published on deceased donor organ allocation system for Non-UK residents.
An independent report to clarify the rules on the allocation of deceased donor organ transplants for NHS patients and non-UK EU residents has been published by Elisabeth Buggins, former Chair of the Organ Donation Taskforce.
The report was commissioned by then Health Secretary Alan Johnson in March of this year following reports about the number of organs from deceased UK donors being transplanted into non-UK resident EU nationals each year.
The report’s recommendations have been broadly accepted by the Department of Health. It is anticipated that the recommendations will help to ensure public confidence in the fairness and transparency of the deceased donor organ allocation system.
