NHS Blood and Transplant is calling on people in the South East to be “One in a Million” by registering their decision to be an organ donor. 

The plan is to increase the number of people in the UK on the NHS Organ Donor Register - aiming to increase from 29 million to 30 million people to be registered donors by the end of the year.

The challenge of gaining over a million first time UK registrations by the start of 2027 is designed to tackle the growing dilemma of declining family consent rates and ensure more life-saving transplants can go ahead.

It comes as new figures show that family consent or authorisation across the UK has dropped from 69 per cent in 2020-21 to just 57 per cent in 2025-26 at the very moment when more people than ever are waiting for a life-saving transplant.

Organ donation is far more likely to proceed when someone has recorded their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register. Last year, almost 90 per cent of families supported donation when they knew their loved one had made their wishes clear.

Despite strong public support for organ donation in principle, consent at the time of death is falling.  Almost 29 million people in the UK have already expressed their decision to be a donor via the NHS Organ Donor Register  with 4.1 million in the South East already registering their decision to donate their organs after death.

NHS Blood and Transplant’s new ambition signals a call to action: to close the gap between the public’s support for donation and the number of people who formally record their decision, and to ensure that every potential donor has the best chance of saving lives.

Last year 43 patients in the South East died waiting for a transplant.

Anthony Clarkson, director of organ and tissue donation and transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Family support for organ donation has been in steady decline over the last few years, and we need to reverse that trend.

“We understand that when families are approached about organ donation, they may be expected to make difficult decisions at an already tragic time. 

“That’s why we are asking people in the South East to be ‘One in a Million’ and drive up the number of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register to 30 million by the start of 2027. It gives your family certainty that you want donation to go ahead and it’s expected they honour that decision.

“For many families though, even when their loved one has expressed a wish to donate, they still override that decision for whatever reason, meaning hundreds of potential organ transplant opportunities being lost each year. 

“I would urge people who haven’t already done so to express your decision to donate via the Organ Donor Register and for families to remember that decision and honour it should the time come. 

“It’s the final act you can do for them to honour their memory and leave a lasting legacy to be proud of.”