Wales now needs to go it alone on presumed consent organ donation

I'm really saddened to read the UK Organ Donation Taskforce's report on presumed consent for organ donation.

It also gives me a bit of a sense of deja vu, it not being so long ago since the Assembly's Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee rejected the idea too.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll no doubt be very familiar with the BMA's stance on presumed consent, which is in favour of a soft version of it (ie anyone who does not want to donate their organs, can register their objection. Families would also be consulted to identify any unregistered objection).

This perhaps gives more weight to the argument that Wales should also go it alone, being left to decide for ourselves what organ donation system we think is best. It's all well and good different committees and organisations submitting recommendations, but ultimately it should be down to the general public to decide. Which is why we fully support the Welsh Assembly Government's series of public consultations on the issue taking place at the moment.

Let's hope it leads to an informed debate and informed decisions being made. Afterall, it is hundreds of people's lives on the organ donor register in Wales, potentially being put at stake.