A NEW organ donation law comes into effect today.

Under Max and Keira’s Law (the Organ Donation Deemed Consent Act) all adults in England are considered as having agreed to donate their own organs when they die unless they have opted out.

Anthony Clarkson, director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation with the NHS, said:

’We are very pleased that Max and Keira’s Law has passed its final round of parliamentary approval and we welcome the new legislation.

’It is important that people know they will still have a choice whether or not to donate. Families will still be consulted, and people’s faith, beliefs and culture will continue to be respected.

’We hope this law change will prompt all of us to consider whether or not we would want to donate our organs and encourage us all to register and share our decision with our family and friends.’

People under 18 will be excluded from the new law, as are those who lack the mental capacity to understand the new arrangements and take the necessary action; people who have lived in England for less than 12 months; those who are not living here voluntarily and those who have nominated someone else to make the decision on their behalf.

In cases, where the individual hasn’t expressed a decision, specialist nurses will support families to make a decision, based on what their loved ones would have wanted. If the decision is not to donate, this will be honoured and upheld.

While transplants continue to happen, says the NHS, organ donation will not go ahead, if a potential donor in known to have, or suspected of having, Covid-19. We continue to work closely with transplant centres who are considering re-opening their programmes in a phased return to normal as part of the wider recovery of NHS services.

 Faizan Awan is one of thousands of people across the UK still waiting for a transplant, hoping that the new law will eventually lead to more people receiving the precious life-saving gift of a transplant.

Faizan, 33, from Blackburn, had his first organ transplant at the age of three. When that failed at the age of 14, he was on dialysis for 18 months and in 2000, he received a kidney from his father. He is now back on the organ transplant list and has been waiting for a kidney for the last two-and-a-half years.

Faizan says: ’This will be my third transplant and will be the most complicated yet as it will need to be a near perfect match – which means it needs to come from my own community. This means it is incredibly likely I will be waiting for a while as the Asian community are underrepresented as donors on the NHS Organ Donor Register.

’Perhaps this is because they have never considered it, feel it is a taboo subject, that their religion doesn’t allow it or family would disapprove. I would urge everyone to do more research, read the information provided by the NHS, find out what different religions really say about organ donation and how different faiths and beliefs can be respected and accommodated by organ donation staff.

’For many people like me, who are waiting for an organ, the law change is a sign of hope and a transplant would dramatically change my life in a number of ways.’

For more information, and to register your decision, visit: www.organdonation.nhs.uk