NHS draws up emergency plan as organ donation rates fall 9% and transplant waiting list hits record high

From the Newshound archive · first published 21 September 2026 · last updated 22 September 2026.

Deceased organ donation rates have plunged 9% below last year's levels even as the UK transplant waiting list has hit a record high of more than 8,700 people, prompting the NHS to draw up a formal response plan for the first time ever. Specialist nurse Kate Hurley at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital called it "probably the most concerning time" in her 17-year career, warning that family reluctance to honour the opt-out system is accelerating the crisis. Consent rates have slipped from 67% when the opt-out law changed in 2020 to just 57% last year. The NHS is now calling for one million people who have never registered to confirm their organ donation decision.

Families are undermining the opt-out system by telling hospitals they are 'not sure' what their relatives would have wanted.

In Gloucestershire alone, 98 people are waiting for a transplant while only 40 were carried out in the past year.

Post-Covid demand for transplants is rising sharply, deepening the gap between organs available and patients needing them.