Baroness Finlay, who is President of the Royal Society of Medicine, has introduced a bill into the House of Lords which will address the serious issue of prolonged waits for patients on the kidney transplant waiting list.

Baroness Finlay’s Kidney Transplant Bill aims to shift the emphasis from the current ‘opt in’ method of organ donation towards a presumption that people wish to give after death. The bill will allow an authorised transplant team to remove one kidney from a dead patient for the purpose of transplantation to a live human unless the donor has previously opted out of organ donation.

The bill deals only with kidney transplantation and does not give power to remove any other organ from a deceased person.

There are currently 6663 people waiting, on average 3 years, for a kidney transplant in the UK. Furthermore in the last five years nearly 1500 people have died awaiting a kidney transplant.

Baroness Finlay stated: “The current data speaks for itself. We have a very serious problem in this country and something must be done about it. My bill will help families who are being tragically bereaved as it takes the burden of decision making over donation off their shoulders. And it should help make sure those waiting for a transplant can get a kidney. Transplants save young lives, and I hope that this bill will increase the amount of transplants in the UK”

House of Lords

First reading: November 28 2007 [HL Bill 11]

Second reading: no date