Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will consider moving to a system of presumed consent for organ donation.

On 1 December 2015, Wales introduced deemed consent (opt-out) for organ and tissue donation. The Department will monitor closely how these changes in legislation in Wales affect donation rates.

Since the launch of the United Kingdom-wide Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020 Strategy in 2013, organ donation rates have increased by 7% and transplant rates by 6% mainly through a strengthening of the donation infrastructure (e.g. increased specialist nurses, improved retrieval arrangements). In 2016/17, there were 1,413 deceased donors resulting in 3,712 transplants.