Bereaved families have overruled the wishes of 547 registered organ donors since 2010, new figures show, blocking one in seven intended donations.
Their decisions meant 1,200 patients were denied transplants, says NHS Blood and Transport (NHSBT). There are 6,578 people in the UK waiting for organs.
Today's news comes as NHSBT announces changes to the way it handles donations. From now on, families of registered donors will no longer be asked for their consent but will instead be told they can object and how to do so.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"We are taking a tougher approach, but also a more honest approach," said NHSBT head Sally Johnson.
"My nurses are speaking for the person who has died. People who join the register want and expect to become organ donors. We do not want to let them down.
James Hardie, a specialist nurse in organ donation in London, told the BBC that families are often surprised to find their loved one had a donor card. This made them feel they did not know the deceased as well as they thought and their distress at times led them to refuse permission.
The new system, said Johnson, would help ease the grief of families, who the NHSBT has "every sympathy for".
She said: "We think this will make what is a hugely distressing day easier for them by reducing the burden on them.
"The principle that the individual affected is the one who consents applies throughout medicine and it is not different because someone has died," she added.
Last month, Wales changed its system for organ donations, switching to "presumed content" where people are deemed donors unless they have specifically opted out.
-
August 31 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include FEMA's new scheme, Gavin Newsom's antics, and a clue in the Epstein files
-
Disarming Hezbollah: Lebanon's risky missionTalking Point Iran-backed militia has brought 'nothing but war, division and misery', but rooting them out for good is a daunting and dangerous task
-
Woof! Britain's love affair with dogsThe Explainer The UK's canine population is booming. What does that mean for man's best friend?
-
Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drugSpeed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
-
In hock to Moscow: exploring Germany’s woeful energy policySpeed Read Don’t expect Berlin to wean itself off Russian gas any time soon
-
Were Covid restrictions dropped too soon?Speed Read ‘Living with Covid’ is already proving problematic – just look at the travel chaos this week
-
Inclusive Britain: a new strategy for tackling racism in the UKSpeed Read Government has revealed action plan setting out 74 steps that ministers will take
-
Sandy Hook families vs. Remington: a small victory over the gunmakersSpeed Read Last week the families settled a lawsuit for $73m against the manufacturer
-
Farmers vs. walkers: the battle over ‘Britain’s green and pleasant land’Speed Read Updated Countryside Code tells farmers: ‘be nice, say hello, share the space’
-
Motherhood: why are we putting it off?Speed Read Stats show around 50% of women in England and Wales now don’t have children by 30
-
Anti-Semitism in America: a case of double standards?Speed Read Officials were strikingly reluctant to link Texas synagogue attack to anti-Semitism
