Addenbrooke's organ donor coordinators jump on board for Transplant Week

National Transplant Week begins on Monday 7 July, and to mark the occasion the Addenbrooke's organ donor coordinators will be jumping on board a punt to encourage people to save lives by joining the Organ Donor Register. Jo Redfarn, one of the donor coordinators, says: “More than 9,000 people in the UK need an organ transplant, but there's a desperate shortage of donations. Last year about 3,200 transplants went ahead – but we want to be able to carry out three times that number of operations.

 

About 1,000 patients die each year before an organ becomes available. “We'd like to get more people in East Anglia to discuss their wishes with their family and to make those wishes clear by signing up to the Organ Donor Register. A quarter of the population has already expressed their wish to donate their organs when they die, but we need to increase that number so we can save more lives. “We always aim to discuss organ donation with families to ensure we carry out the patient's wishes, but the possibility of donation seems more acceptable if relatives know their loved one's wishes in advance."

 

You can find out more about organ donation and join the NHS Organ Donor Register by telephoning 0845 60 60 400, by texting the word GIVE to 84118. Standard text rates apply, or by visiting the website below.

 

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