Hundreds await life-saving transplants as South West faces organ donation shortage
Report by Duncan Williams for Pulman's Weekly News
People across the South West are being urged to become “One in a Million” by joining the NHS Organ Donor Register, amid growing concern that fewer families are giving consent for organ donation at the time of a loved one’s death.
NHS Blood and Transplant has launched a national campaign aiming to encourage an additional one million adults to register their donation decision by the start of 2027.
Nearly 29 million people across the UK have already recorded their wishes, including around 2.9 million people in the South West.
The appeal comes as new figures reveal family consent for organ donation has fallen sharply over the past five years. Across the UK, consent or authorisation rates have dropped from 69 per cent in 2020/21 to 57 per cent in 2025/26.
Health leaders say the decline is particularly worrying at a time when more people than ever are waiting for life-saving transplants.
Evidence shows that when a person has recorded their wishes on the NHS Organ Donor Register, families support donation in almost 90 per cent of cases. However, when relatives are unsure of their loved one’s wishes, support falls to below 50 per cent.
Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Family support for organ donation has been in steady decline over the last few years, and we need to reverse that trend.
“We understand that when families are approached about organ donation, they may be expected to make difficult decisions at an already tragic time. That’s why we are asking people in the South West to be ‘One in a Million’ and drive up the number of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register to 30 million by the start of 2027. It gives your family that certainty that you want donation to go ahead and it’s expected that they honour that decision.
“For many families though, even when their loved one has expressed a wish to donate, they still override that decision for whatever reason, meaning hundreds of potential organ transplant opportunities being lost each year.
“I would urge people who haven’t already done so to express your decision to donate via the Organ Donor Register and for families to remember that decision and honour it should the time come. It’s the final act you can do for them to honour their memory and leave a lasting legacy to be proud of.”
The figures show that while organ donation and transplantation increased slightly across the UK last year, the South West experienced a small decline.
A total of 237 people in the region donated organs after death during 2025/26, down from 244 the previous year. The number of people receiving transplants also fell, from 369 to 342.
At the same time, 612 patients in the South West are currently waiting for a transplant.
Across the UK, 8,296 patients, including 241 children, were on the active transplant waiting list as of 31 March 2026, the highest number ever recorded.
Last year, 1,428 people donated organs after death across the UK, helping 4,666 patients receive life-saving transplants. Living organ donation also increased, with 1,017 living donors accounting for 42 per cent of all organ donors.
Despite these gains, the need remains acute. NHS figures show 434 patients died while waiting for a transplant last year, including 35 people in the South West. A further 899 patients were removed from waiting lists because their health deteriorated to the point where transplantation was no longer possible.
For Bath resident Harriett Bremner, the importance of recording a donation decision became deeply personal after the sudden death of her husband Grant.
Grant, a father of three, collapsed at home in June 2025 following a brain haemorrhage. He was taken to Southmead Hospital but never regained consciousness. Shortly before his death, he had renewed his driving licence and signed up to the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Harriett said: “When we were in the hospital with him, there was never any doubt in my mind that organ donation was the right thing to do. It was the perfect reflection of Grant, because he was such a generous person in so many ways.
“It was just part of his story because it reflected who he was. I didn’t even have to decide really, because he was on the register through his driving licence that was recently renewed.”
Grant’s kidneys and heart valves were donated, helping other patients and potentially saving lives.
Reflecting on the experience, Harriett said: “In a split second he was here, and then he was gone. So you have to feel happy that you’re making the right decision, which is why signing the Organ Donor Register is so vital.
“I was sitting waiting in the room with Grant, thinking, there’s another family somewhere. I don’t know where they are and I don’t know who they are, but they are sitting in a hospital room too.
“It did help to think about another similar hospital room somewhere, and that Grant would be helping that family.”
NHS Blood and Transplant says increasing the number of people who formally record their wishes and discuss them with loved ones could help save hundreds more lives each year.
The organisation is urging people across Devon, Somerset and the wider South West to register their decision and ensure their families are aware of their wishes, helping to bridge the gap between public support for organ donation and the number of transplants that can actually take place.
( Photos: Unsplash 📸 )