New legislation around organ donation came into effect on 20th May 2020. Known as Max and Keira’s Law, all adults in England are considered as having agreed to donate their organs when they die unless they have recorded a decision not to donate i.e. they have opted out or are in one of the excluded groups.

Excluded groups include persons under the age of 18, those  who lack the mental capacity to understand the new arrangements and take necessary action, people who have lived in England for less that 12 months, people who are not living here voluntarily and those who have nominated someone else to make the decision on their behalf.

If a person hasn’t expressed a decision, specialist nurses will support families to make a decision based on what their loved ones would have wanted.

Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ And Tissue Donation and Transplantation commented on the recent changes to the law,

It is important that people know they will still have a choice whether or not to donate. Families will still be consulted, and people’s faith, beliefs and culture will continue to be respected. We hope this law change will prompt all of us to consider whether or not we would want to donate our organs and encourage us all to register and share our decision with our family and friends.

People still have the choice of whether they wish to be a donor or not. Please use the link on this page to access NHS blood and Transplant where you can record your decision.

Please note: in these exceptional times, if a potential donor is known to have , or be suspected of having COVID-19 then organ donation cannot be considered