Deputy backing "opt out" organ donation

Monday 22 August 2016

Jersey could soon have an “opt out” organ donation scheme.

Deputy Montfort Tadier says the Island should follow Wales’ example and he hopes to bring a proposition to the States next month.

At the moment the Island operates an “opt in” scheme. That means organs are only taken from registered donors.

Last year it was estimated only 11% of people living in Jersey had registered. That compares with around 30% in the UK. In some countries like Austria and Spain rates are 90% or more. Despite various campaigns the number of Jersey residents signing up has not significantly increased.

Wales though recently introduced a different scheme. Under the “opt out” scheme, unless you say otherwise your organs can be removed and transplanted. This is the scheme Deputy Tadier thinks the Island should adopt.

Deputy Tadier believes “far more people are probably willing to donate organs than have signed up for the register. No matter how easy you make it, many probably still have a belief that it’s going to be difficult and time consuming to sign up. The ‘opt out’ scheme gets around that problem. And if people don’t want to donate, they’re not going to be forced to. They simply have to opt out.”

According to Jersey doctor and organ donation campaigner Neil MacLachlan on average one Islander a year dies waiting for a transplant, and last year around a dozen Channel Islanders were unable to have life-saving operations because of a shortage of donors.

Back in 2013 the then Deputy Roy Le Herissier asked the Minister for Health and Social Services to review the current policy in respect of organ donations and to bring forward recommendations for improvement. He also suggested the “opt-out” scheme might be the way forward.