8,000 Jersey drivers finally registered as organ donors

Sunday 16 December 2018

A three-year backlog of islanders who signed up as organ donors on their driving licence application forms have finally been officially added to the NHS register.

Thousands of islanders thought they had been signed up to the register after they ticked the box on their driving licence applications, but learned earlier this year that they had been left off due to an administrative error.

Amidst much confusion surrounding how the transfer of the drivers’ data would be administered as well as a six-month delay on ordering updated forms added to the extensive backlog, which has now been worked through.

Pictured: The option to sign up as an organ donor on the forms has now been removed from driving licence applications.

After it emerged that the data had not been passed on, the former Minister for Infrastructure signed an order for new forms to be printed without the organ donation tickbox after the States passed a proposal to implement an ‘opt-out’ organ donation system in Jersey.

Although this decision was made, the backlog was only grew as it took six months for Parishes to order new forms while the old forms remained in circulation.

Some Parishes took to using photocopied forms with what appeared to be post-it notes covering the organ donation section in the interim.

Pictured: Whilst the new forms were on their way, some Parishes used the temporary solution of covering the organ donation option with what appears to be post-it notes. 

A spokesperson for the parishes previously told Express that a lack of resources prevented the regular transfer of islanders’ data taking place and they had to figure out a way of registering all the information in one go.

A solution has now been found, however, with 8,261 names now rightfully registered as organ donors – 7,794 of those are new registrations, and the remaining 467 are amendments to existing registrations.

Commenting on the problem fix, Constable Deidre Mezbourian, who is chairman of the collective of all the island's constables, the Comité des Connétables, said: “We are delighted that all the data collected from 2015 to 2018 has now been transferred… as has been visible to specialist nurses since the end of November.”

Pictured: Constable Deidre Mezbourian said that the Parishes are "delighted" that all the data has now been transferred.

It is NHS policy to contact those who have registered in the last 12 months, but, due to the scale of the backlog, those who signed up via their driving licence application more than 12 months ago won’t be contacted.

The constable said that, regardless of this, the Parishes “want to assure everyone who has registered using the driving licence application form that their names have now been added.” 

The way in which the driving licence application issue was handled by States officials was previously heavily criticised by a local consultant Dr Neil MacLachlan, whose own daughter’s life was saved by a stranger who had signed up as an organ donor.

Pictured: Dr Neil MacLachlan, a Consultant and campaigner, who has previously criticised the States' approach to organ donation.

Constable Mezbourian paid tribute to Dr MacLachlan and his family, who have passionately campaigned about organ donation for many years through their charity, the Love Hearts Appeal. 

She said: “I would like to pay tribute to the work of the Love Hearts Appeal for proposing this initiative and for the tremendous results achieved over the last three years.  

“It is, perhaps, unfortunate that we had to remove the registration option just prior to the bulk renewal of driving licences but the introduction next year of the ‘opt-out’ system… and the NHS BT preference for direct registrations gave us no choice.” 

To sign up as an organ donor or update your details, click here.