To opt-out of organ donation

[Jamiek80]

I am currently on the organ donor list however if the government make it opt out instead of opt in I will choose to opt out. I have a few reasons firstly though I’m on the register I actually have no clue what is involved, What can be taken, how much is taken, what happens to my body and a whole load more questions. Secondly if opt out what will happen can they just take everything I mean it’s possible to transplant a head these days so why not just store whole bodies just in case? Thirdly would the government make it simple to opt-out? Finally if you start opt out technically the government owns your body post death at what point do they decide they can take your organs while you’re still alive? I’m not against organ donation as I said I’m on the register but perhaps a better approach would be more available information, I wouldn’t even know how to re-register these days!

YABVU
This is a major issue for me. At the start of this year I gave my dad one of my organs because he needed it and he had been on the transplant list for a very very long time. So few organs come up and even fewer are matches for people who need them.
Please please reconsider being on the organ donor list. If I had my way, it would be an opt out system.

I'm not the donor register but wouldn't take one. I would like them available to my DS if he ever needed one, or to anyone who needs one and wants one.

Also instead of telling me to go and do some research why would it be so bad if I didn’t need to and I was able to be reliably informed without having to search through google which we all know isn’t the most consistent.

You've been given a link to the NHS organ donation website - surely that's a good starting point? How much research effort does it take to click a link?

I think we're all baffled that someone with all these questions, and moreover someone who feels strongly enough about it all to start a thread, wouldn't take a couple of minutes to go and look at the answers to them.

Removing ventilation, from what I recall. I researched this a while ago, after a school friend was misdiagnosed and put forward for donation.
She made a full recovery (eventually. Took a few years)

Should be auto opt in! 100%

I made dp register his as he hadn’t had a reason to before hand (that he thought anyway) so just to be sure.

And what are you talking about re: a) Your relatives seeing someone walking around with your face and b) they (whoever he fuck that is) deciding they don’t have enough transplants so are going to what? Hunt you down and catch you with a big net and suddenly cut your kidneys out?

I totally dispair sometimes I really really do.

I don't agree with an opt-out system or an opt-in system. That isn't the same as not agreeing to be a donor although I don't know whether I'll be eligible once I'm dead as I plan on donating some of my organs while I'm still alive. I am on the NZ donor register (reflected on my driving licence).

I agree with a system where, if the circumstances are appropriate, everybody is able to be asked about the possibility of donation rather than the question not being asked because nobody knows whether they are "in" or "out" and nobody wants to ask it because it's a bloody difficult conversation to have.

Read @LoverOfCake 's post above. What we need is a system where people are educated about the benefits and what actually happens and where people feel able to have the discussion with their next of kin while they are still well and healthy. We need a system where, if the very unlikely and tragic happens (stroke, ruptured cerebral aneurysm, road traffic accident) - that the medical teams feel able to have the discussions sensitively with the next of kin. The reality is that very few people die under the right circumstances to be donors anyway.

I have however looked after many patients undergoing organ retrieval (been doing this job a long time) and feel so thankful every time the followup letter detailing how many lives have been helped arrives in the internal mail. It's an amazing thing to do.

I’m guessing that the vast majority of people on here are not in favour of opt out as this gives people the option to refuse and they seem to be of the opinion everyone should be forced to give up whatever organs are required.

That's an odd deduction to make - I can't see any replies that suggest this. Where do you get it from?

My son had a kidney two years ago from a young person. He was 25 and had missed out on so much already from being so ill and having to be on dyalisis.
He is now happy and healthy and loves a full life and I can sleep at night.
Please find out a bit about it before you make the choice.
Me and him both admitted we were a bit scared until we found out what it entails.

You are getting short thrift (ie insults) because you talk about arrant nonsense like head transplantation and live organ theft, you aren't reading the clear-as-daylight information you are being pointed to, and keep saying you've read dubious-sounding NHS information but not revealing where. So I call either troll or very very hard of thinking. I'd actually prefer the former tbh. There are deeply thought out objections to organ donation (not that I agree), but this makes a poor joke of an important issue.

Airbiscuits
The patient is hyperoxygenated for this part, the oxgen levels are about 5 times normal so they are not being starved of oxygen, it's the carbon dioxide levels that make people breathe, the ventilation is stopped for a very short time (like a minute or so) enough to make the carbon dioxide levels increase which should trigger the person to breath if they are not brain dead but not long enough to starve the person of oxygen (levels are still well above normal when ventilation is restarted.

Education is the key all round whether opt in or opt out and it is obvious that what some people think vs what actually happens is very different (this is not a personal attack Airbiscuits just a general observation)

It is possible for people to be tested and fail the tests in which case they are not brain dead. If the tests (performed by separate doctors at separate times) are conclusive then even if donation is not agreed, the person is legally dead and life support can be withdrawn (this does NOT need family consent, it is a purely medical decision)

The NHS have a lot of work to do all round to increase the amount of transplants each year and getting people talking about it (both the positives and negatives) is the first step

I have some reservations about this. From experience, many relatives can’t quite accept a death, especially if it’s sudden. They need time with the body bluntly. To whisk the loved one off for organ harvesting would have to be handled sensitively.
I do think we need more organs for transplant however but perhaps more publicity to discuss with relatives and record wishes would be better?

When you die your body becomes property of the coroner anyway. They say when your body can be released. Why wouldn't you want to help?

nursy1 i completely agree with this sentiment, I appreciate not every person has a good experience with the donation process but the process is handled very sensitively by very highly trained nurses and many families can reflect that something good has come out of a very sad situation. The death of a person will not change, the fact that they have helped save several peoples lives can make all the difference.

Also, if a person has chosen to opt out then the donation nurses know not to even consider to approach their family which could potentially cause more stress at an already difficult time especially if they were already aware of their wishes

I have some reservations about this. From experience, many relatives can’t quite accept a death, especially if it’s sudden. They need time with the body bluntly. To whisk the loved one off for organ harvesting would have to be handled sensitively.

The actual process isn't changing though - next of kin still have final say, the tests are still the same, the process isn't being speeded up.

Stormybubbles
I know the procedure is good if it’s properly followed and specialist transplant nurses are to hand. Everything is so stretched at the moment and it seems yet another thing into the mix with no funding for training or publicity behind it.

Slashlover
Is that correct? Is that actually a change at all then if relatives still have the last say. The way I read it an opt in presumes your wish is to donate your organs on your death.

relatives will ALWAYS have the final say, no one will ever go against their wishes

Thanks Stormybubbles. It’s years since I worked in secondary care so it’s not a situation I come across nowadays. As I understood it, relatives don’t have the automatic right to overrule if a patient has expressed a wish to donate. Just thinking of my A and E colleagues trying to deal with this one and wondering if trying to make the existing system better would not be preferable.

the relatives have every right to overrule and this will not change, much research and thought has been put into trying to make the current system better, I believe that in countries that have adopted the opt out system the rate of donation has actually not increased(well not significantly so) most families complain that the process is too slow (not too quick which is what you would expect) and this was expressed by at least one previous poster and several things have been implemented recently to help speed it up. Specialist donor nurses are present (and indeed an vital part) to every donation process, even if a family refuse permission the donor nurses can continue to support the family with the dying process including providing hand prints and momentos as well as providing books for little people to help with their understanding of the dying process. It's such an emotive subject and an exceedingly emotive and stressful time for the family I'm not sure what can actually make it easier or better.

Due to my line of work I am admittedly somewhat biased however all views (as long as properly informed) need to be respected

I find this tricky.

I am happy for anybody to use any part of me for anything that may benefit others when I am dead.

My DH is appalled by the idea. His "reasoning" is utterly stupid and illogical and I can't even be arsed repeating here because people will only think the same things I have said a million times.

My positive feelings towards organ donation aren't as strong as his negative feelings.

It's the only issue we have no common ground on. I honestly don't know what I would do if he died first because logically I know that my reasoning for donating his organs would be sound but on the other hand I would be a distressed widow betraying my husbands strongly held wishes.

People saying that relatives would get the ultimate say are incorrect from all the information I have seen. I am happy to be corrected on this.

I think if you are happy to receive then you must also be happy to give .

@Tessliketrees

But would your DH go against your wishes?

shabbs for you and for Matt he sounds like a true little hero xx

But would your DH go against your wishes?

Without a doubt.

I think if you are happy to receive then you must also be happy to give although some people will fiat be automatically opted out because theirs will be no use due to pre existing medical issues