More than 450 patients miss out on possible organ transplants each year because families do not know their deceased relative’s wishes.
About 6,400 people are on the waiting list for a new organ, and some 1,200 are thought to have died last year awaiting a transplant.
Experts say the problem is made worse because people are reluctant to discuss their wishes regarding donation.
Hundreds of patients miss out on organ transplants every year because families of the deceased do not know their dead relative’s wishes
In England an organ transplant from a dead patient is only carried out with the direct permission of a family member.
Surveys show more than 80 per cent of people support organ donation.
But on 177 occasions in 2016-17 suitable transplants were cancelled because a relative said they were not sure whether the patient would have agreed, according to statistics published by NHS Blood and Transplant.
Because each donation benefits an average of 2.6 patients, with different organs going to different recipients, officials calculate those 177 refusals could have led to 460 transplants. Nearly 24million people are on the NHS Organ Donor Register – 36 per cent of the UK population.
But because a transplant has to take place very quickly after death so that the organ is still viable, only about 1,400 take place each year.
NHS Blood and Transplant say it’s a tragedy that so many people die waiting for transplants because relatives are unaware their loved ones died as organ donors
Because opportunities for transplants are so rare, every missed chance is taken very seriously. Yet surveys show only 49 per cent of people have ever talked about it.
Anthony Clarkson, from NHS Blood and Transplant, said: ‘It’s a tragedy, hundreds of people are dying unnecessarily every year waiting for transplants.
‘If everyone who supported donation talked about it and agreed to donate, most of those lives would be saved.
‘A few words now can make an extraordinary difference. It will also make things much easier for your family to make the right decision. If you want to save lives, don’t leave it too late to talk to your family.
‘If you want to be a donor, your family’s support is still needed for donation to go ahead, even if you are on the NHS Organ Donor Register.’
The British Heart Foundation says over 250 people are waiting for heart transplants, but only 200 heart transplants took place last year in the UK
Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, added: ‘There are over 250 people on the waiting list, but only 200 heart transplants took place last year in the UK.
‘For these people, it’s an agonising wait for a new heart that could mean the difference between life and death. It takes two minutes to sign up to the Organ Donor Register.’
The parents of a four-year-old who died while on the waiting list are urging people to discuss donating with their families.
Dr Mike Knapton of the British Heart Foundation has encouraged people to take two minutes to sign up to the Organ Donor Register
Aoife O’Sullivan, from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex died in March 2016 while waiting for a heart transplant.
She had suffered heart failure caused by restrictive cardiomyopathy, a condition which made her heart muscle rigid.
After she died, her parents Michelle and Neil chose to donate her kidneys.
Her mother said: ‘Neil and I take comfort from that fact Aoife has given somebody more time with their loved ones. We feel very proud of Aoife.
‘I would say to people, “put yourself in the shoes of someone waiting for a ransplant”.’