Relatives should be not be able to block organ donation

Relatives should not be allowed to override the wishes of their family members who have agreed to become organ donors prior to their death, one expert has said.

Elizabeth Buggins, chair of the UK Organ Donation Taskforce, believes the practice of organ donation should be changed to ensure that an individuals' own wishes are maintained.

Last year the organs of 1,212 deceased people reached more than 3,100 patients, but in the year previous to that 125 families refused to allow their loved one's organs to be donated.

Ms Buggins points out that while family members do not legally have any right to block a donation, doctors will rarely go against their wishes.

However, she believes a referral to the NHS Transplant service should become mandatory for anyone who appears on the organ donor register, thus not giving a relative the opportunity to the stand in the way.

"They have always supported the family to make the decision that is right for them but they have not done enough to honour the wishes of the person who has died," she said of doctors.

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