Current status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government in how many cases family members overrode their relatives' (a) express and (b) deemed authorisation for organ donation after death, in each of the last 10 years.
The number of family members who overrode their relative’s express authorisation for organ donation after that relative’s death, in each of the last 10 years, is set out in the following table. Express authorisation is where someone, in life, has documented their donation decision either on the NHS Organ Donor Register or in some other form of writing.
Families who overrode their relatives expressed authorisation
| |
Financial year | Families approached but no authorisation given |
2013-14 | 9 |
2014-15 | 21 |
2015-16 | 18 |
2016-17 | 16 |
2017-18 | 13 |
2018-19 | 12 |
2019-20 | 15 |
2020-21 | 5 |
2021-22 | 9 |
2022-23 | 13 |
The number of family members who overrode their relatives' deemed authorisation for organ donation after that relative’s death, in each of the last three years, is set out in the following table. The Human Tissue (Authorisation) (Scotland) Act 2019, which set up the legal framework for deemed authorisation, came into effect in March 2021. This means that there is only data available on deemed authorisation for the last three years.
Families who overrode their relatives deemed authorisation
| |
Financial year | Families approached but no authorisation given |
2020-21 | 0 |
2021-22 | 11 |
2022-23 | 13 |