Labour call on Health Secretary to introduce opt-out organ donation

Published on 11/09/2012 14:31

LABOUR has called on the new Health Secretary to bring forward legislation which will require people to opt-out of organ donation.

The current organ donation system requires people to sign up to the register to give permission for their organs to be used for transplants after their death.

As of April this year, over two million Scots were registered as donors.

Alex Neil, who took over from Nicola Sturgeon last week, has previously stated his support for the change.

The move to an opt-out system is also backed by the British Medical Association (BMA), and received overwhelming support at the SNP’s Autumn conference last year.

Ms Sturgeon told MSPs last year that the Scottish Government had no plans plans to change to opting-out, however it had not ruled out legislative change in the future.

Labour’s health spokeswoman, Jackie Baillie, said: “Nicola Sturgeon failed to agree to change the legislation which is widely thought would save many more lives and bring hope to the thousands of Scots who are currently waiting for organs on the transplant waiting list.

“Alex Neil has previously stated his support for such a change which has long been supported by patients groups and the medical community. We hope that he will now use his new post to make it happen.

“We were disappointed that there was nothing in the legislative agenda announced last week to bring this proposal forward.

“We will support the government in introducing legislation which could be life saving for so many Scots and I hope Alex Neil will now bring forward proposals as soon as possible.”

Dr Brian Keighley, chairman of the BMA in Scotland, said: “We welcome Labour’s support for an opt-out system for organ donation to be introduced in Scotland.

“New ways must be found to increase the number of organs available to those who desperately need them and an opt-out system, with safeguards, would better allow that to happen.

“Issues such as organ donation transcend party politics and we welcome parties working together to deliver a system for Scotland that will save more lives.”

The issue of introducing an opt-out system has been at the centre of debate for several years.

Former Liberal Democrat MSP John Farquhar Munro’s failed Member’s Bill in 2004, which set out proposals to change to opting-out, was backed by Mr Neil.

At the time, Mr Neil said the Bill should increase the number of organs available for operations and save many peoples’ lives.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “There are around 600 people in Scotland on the active transplant waiting list and we are working to reduce this. On such a vital issue as organ donation Scottish Ministers - including the Health Secretary - are guided by expert opinion.

“The clear advice from the Organ Donation Taskforce in 2008 was that we should concentrate efforts on removing the barriers to donation by improving the organ donation and transplant infrastructure and also increasing the number of people on the NHS organ donor register.

“We’ve done this very successfully - Scotland now has the highest percentage of population on the organ donor register in the UK and we have met the target of increasing the number of donors by 50% a year early.

“When the taskforce’s recommendations were made, we were clear that they would be reviewed in 2013 - this work will consider all issues relevant to organ donation, including opt-out.”