Make your views known this Organ Donation Week

Islanders are being urged to have a conversation with their families and loved ones about organ donation as part of a national awareness week.

Organ Donation Week, which takes place between Monday 2 September and Sunday 8 September, aims to reinforce the importance of organ donation. This year’s campaign calls on families to talk about their organ donation decision with the message "Pass it On".

Since 1 July there has been an assumption in law that adults in Jersey consent to donating their organs after death unless they say otherwise. The aim of the law, which was agreed by the States Assembly in April 2018, is to make it easier for islanders to donate their organs and potentially save more lives. If you do not want to donate your organs the best way to record your decision is to contact the National Organ Donor Register by logging on to organdonation.nhs/uk or by phoning 0300 123 2323. You can also contact the Register to expressly consent to be a donor.

At the beginning of the campaign, which started on 20 May, there were 21,030 islanders registered on the Organ Donor Register. Latest figures show that this number has increased by almost 600 – to 21,603. The Government of Jersey is working with the National Organ Donation Register to find out how many islanders have registered to opt in and how many have registered to opt out.

ICU Clinical Manager Sam North said: "Organ Donation Week provides the perfect opportunity to reinforce the importance of organ donation. It’s great to see that the number of islanders who have registered their organ donation decision on the national register has increased since the law change in July.

"It’s vital that islanders continue to have the conversation with their families so their loved ones do not have to make a decision following a serious accident or illness."