Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the extent of awareness among the general public of the implications of the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019; and if he will make a statement.

The Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019 introduces a new system of consent for organ and tissue donation in England, known as ‘opt-out' or ‘deemed consent’. The Government aims for the new consent arrangements to be introduced from spring 2020.

NHS Blood and Transplant launched a communication campaign on behalf of the Government in April 2019 to make the public fully aware of the new system of consent. Several platforms have been used since then to raise public awareness of the new system, more recently through TV and radio adverts, as well as public advertising with specific targeting of people with different backgrounds, faith and beliefs. NHS Blood and Transplant will continue to work with general practitioner (GP) practices, schools and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities to address barriers to organ donation.