12,000 Brits are waiting for a life saving organ donation amid an increase in the number of families not supporting donation at the bedside as one mum admits she’s ‘scared’ it’ll come too late
The number of people on the NHS transplant waiting list is at a record high after a post-pandemic drop in donors, it has been revealed.
An increase in the number of families not supporting donation at the bedside means there were 8,096 patients, including 276 children, on the active transplant waiting list as of March 2025. NHS Blood and Transplant’s annual report shows a further 3,883 people on the list temporarily suspended, mainly because they are now too unwell for a transplant. It means almost 12,000 people are living in daily uncertainty, unsure if they will get the organ they need to save their life.
One of those waiting “in limbo” for a transplant is Lynne Cordery whose kidneys failed after complications during major surgery. For the last three years the 51-year-old from Dagenham said has had to be hooked up to a dialysis machine three days a week to stay alive.
Mum-of-two Lynne said: “I can’t work, I don’t go on holiday, socialising is hard and my life revolves around dialysis three days a week and the restrictions it brings. Dialysis is keeping me alive, but it is not a nice life.
“I’ve got to do it, I have no choice, but it is not living. I am scared I won’t get my transplant, the waiting list being so high is scary. There are so many other people waiting, when will it be my turn?”
The Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Activity Report report shows there were 100 fewer deceased organ donors in 2024/25 than the previous year. Multiple organs can be used from each donor so this resulted in a 2% drop in life-saving transplants compared to the previous year.
NHS Blood and Transplant says the reasons behind this drop in donors are unclear. Anthony Clarkson, NHSBT Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation, said: “We are facing an incredibly concerning situation where more people than ever are waiting for transplants, but fewer donations are taking place. Tragically, someone will die today waiting for a transplant.
“The overall consent rate last year fell to 59% from a high of 69% in 2020/21. A fall in consent since the pandemic has been seen in all four UK nations and in many other countries across the world. This is something we are all working to understand.”
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Last year 463 patients died waiting, and a further 911 patients were removed from the transplant list due to deteriorating health. Many of these patients would have died shortly afterwards.
A drop in donors comes at the same time as increasing demand from our ageing population with four in five of those on the waiting list needing a kidney transplant.
Lynne Cordery was added to the NHS transplant waiting list in February. She ended up there after being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in 2022 – a disease where the heart muscle becomes thickened. It ended up struggling to pump blood so she had a heart transplant.
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Lynne said: “It got to the point with my heart where I was told I needed a transplant. I was devastated it was such a shock. When I got a transplant sadly I had complications. I was in surgery a long time, had a lot of bleeding and was put on life support.
“My kidneys failed so dialysis started while I was in a coma. I am so grateful to my heart donor, people are amazing, I think of him all the time, especially on special occasions. Because of my donor I’ve seen my son turn 18 and my daughter turn 16 and enjoyed other birthdays, Christmases.
“I need a kidney now and then I can really live life. I am quite hopeful, but it is a scary time too. I would say organ donation is an amazing thing to do. You can save a life, please do it.”
NHS leaders insist it is just as vital as ever that people sign the Organ Donor Register to make their wishes clear, in case the worst happens.
Anthony Clarkson said: “We urgently need more people to register their decision to donate and to have these vital conversations with their families. People are far more likely to support donation when they know it’s what their relative wanted.”
After years of campaigning by the Mirror, the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act – also known as “Max and Keira’s Law” – came into effect in England in May 2020. It brought the country into line with the system in Wales and Scotland, then Northern Ireland followed suit in June 2023.
There is now an ‘opt-out’ system meaning that adults are presumed to be organ donors after their death unless they have specifically registered as not wanting to donate. However, crucially, grieving relatives can still veto transplants.
The report shows that last year 173 families overruled their relative’s registered or expressed decision to donate. In a further 520 cases families did not support donation where the law presumes consent – meaning their loved one had not registered to opt out but also hadn’t expressed any decision.
Anthony Clarkson added: “Deemed consent was never introduced as a replacement for expressed consent. Many people still want to record their donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and families value this confirmation when supporting donation, making the decision a lot easier at an already very difficult time.
“The opt-out legislation is not the silver bullet to closing the gap between donation and transplantation, rather it is an important piece of the whole jigsaw to improving consent rates.”
There are fears that the Covid-19 pandemic and its vaccination drive may have fostered a suspicion of the health service among some communities. A big driver in demand for donations is people requiring new kidneys due to rising rates of Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.
Fiona Loud, director at Kidney Care UK, said: “The increases in the number of people with diabetes and high blood pressure, both leading causes of kidney disease, plus the lag in detection during the pandemic are a perfect storm for kidney failure.
“The UK is not where we want it to be with organ donation. Sadly, the transplant waiting list is now the longest it has ever been, and we need to act to ensure the number of people waiting for a transplant is reduced.
“Too many people are dying needlessly whilst waiting for an organ so we are calling on the government to launch a UK-wide awareness campaign and education programme to help people understand how organ donation works and how they can register their organ donation decision.”
Click HERE to register your decision and join the Organ Donation Register.