Professor John Robertson OBA

From BBC Sussex and featured in BBC Breakfast broadcasts today, the above story, and:

At the time, there were about 1,000 transplants a year and about 2,500 people on the waiting list.

From 2024 to 2025, more than 4,500 transplants have been carried out a year and about 8,000 people are on the waiting list, according to NHS Blood and Transplant.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgv929rpl3o

From Organ donation in England and the UK: Statistics and law changes (House of lords Library), published on 6 December 2023:

Organ donation is a devolved matter in the UK. The main impact of the 2019 act related to England, by introducing an opt-out system for organ donation. Therefore, this briefing principally focuses on the provisions for organ donation and the impact of the opt-out change in England. However, it also includes some UK-wide statistics and information.

There were 6,959 patients waiting for a transplant with a further 3,822 temporarily suspended from transplant lists as of the end of March 2023. [In 2022/23] 439 patients died while on the active list waiting for their transplant compared with 429 in the previous year.

The NHS has also highlighted challenges presented by low donation rates among Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups and concerns in religious communities about how organ donation fits with their beliefs. 

Statistics for organ donation across the UK in 2022/23 showed that there was a small increase in the number of organ donors that year (by about 2%), but an even larger increase in the number of people registered as needing a transplant (by about 47%).

The statistics also showed that the consent/authorisation rates were lowest in England and Wales (both at 61%) and highest in Scotland (68%). The rate in Northern Ireland was 65%. https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/organ-donation-in-england-and-the-uk-statistics-and-law-changes/#heading-5

The consent rate was thus 11.5% higher in Scotland than in England or Wales. Imagine BBC Scotland, the Herald or the Scotsman if it was 11.5% lower?