Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to work with the NHS to change perceptions around organ donation to make it an expected part of care when a potential donor dies.

A system for deemed consent, known as ‘opt-out’, was introduced in England from May 2020, to make deceased organ donation the default position. NHS Blood and Transplant and NHS England and NHS Improvement have worked together to implement the new United Kingdom-wide organ donation and transplantation strategy. NHS Blood and Transplant has launched communication campaigns and partnerships to address barriers, such as the ‘Leave Them Certain’ campaign and the Community Investment Scheme and promotes organ donation at events such as Organ Donation Week and the Transplant Games.

In addition, NHS Blood and Transplant has introduced prompts for organ donation when applying for a driving licence or taxing a car. Teaching resources have been provided in all state-funded secondary schools for blood, organ and stem cell donation.