£11m scheme will boost organ donors by 50%, says taskforce

Presumed consent for organ donation, backed by Gordon Brown at the weekend, was put on the back burner yesterday as a government taskforce unveiled measures it claimed would increase donations by 50% without it.

The Organ Donation Taskforce, whose report was immediately accepted in full by the government, wants a body set up to promote donation throughout the UK instead of it being a matter for individual hospitals or regions. It said the move, for which the government pledged £11m, would transform organ donation and boost transplants by 1,200 a year.

Asked about the backing for presumed consent, Alan Johnson, the health secretary, said Brown had been "kicking off a national debate and he is attracted by what is happening in Spain". That country has a system of presumed consent. But he felt it right for the taskforce to look at other improvements before addressing presumed consent, saying the evidence from Spain was "that presumed consent on its own" had not led to that nation's "spectacular results".

John Fabre, professor of Kings College London, said: "There is no conclusive evidence that presumed consent works." Spain's enviable network of transplant coordinators and doctors was almost certainly the reason for its success.

But even if the measures are successful, there could still be a case for presumed consent - which assumes willing donation of organs unless there are specific objections. The demand for transplants is increasing: in 1997-98 there were 5,248 people on the waiting list, mostly for kidneys. By 2006-07 there were 7,234. More than 1,000 people a year die on the list.

The British Heart Foundation said this was "an opportune time" to introduce presumed consent to improve patients' chances of a life-saving heart transplant.