What is the NHS Organ Donor Register?

The NHS Organ Donor Register is a confidential record of people's organ donation decisions.

It records your choice whether to become an organ donor or not when you die.

You can also use it to nominate someone to make an organ donation decision on your behalf.

Why register an organ donation decision?

When you register your organ donation decision, you are helping your loved ones to know what you want.

Organ donation will only go ahead with the support of your family, and clinicians will never proceed with organ donation if your family or loved ones object.

If you are able to become an organ donor in the future, a specialist nurse will check the NHS Organ Donor Register to see if you had recorded a decision and discuss this with those closest to you.

Without your decision to help them, your loved ones may be unsure what to do.

Act now to save lives in future.

Get more information

Our faith and beliefs commitment

If you record a decision to become an organ donor, you also have the opportunity to say whether you would like NHS staff to speak to your family and anyone else appropriate about how organ donation can go ahead in line with your faith or beliefs.

We are committed to supporting your faith and beliefs throughout the organ or tissue donation process.

In the event of your death we will tell your family that your faith and beliefs are important to you, support your family to speak to your faith leader or a representative of your belief system, and provide information to support the discussions.

More about the NHS Organ Donor Register

What happens when you register a decision

When you register your organ donation decision:

We will add your details and decision to the NHS Organ Donor Register
We will send you a letter confirming this within 10 days
You should then talk to your family, and make sure they know what you want

The Organ Donor Card

We send an Organ Donor Card to everybody who registers to donate for the first time.

The Organ Donor Card can be also downloaded, allowing you to share your decision instantly.

We don’t send you a new donor card if you amend your details, re-register, or opt out.

If you have lost your donor card and would like a replacement you can print your own organ donor card.

Alternatively, contact the Organ Donor Line on 0300 123 23 23. We are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What happens if you don't register a decision

If there is no record of your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register, and you are not in one of the excluded groups, in England and Wales it will be considered that you agree to donate your organs when you die. Your family will be expected to support this.

There are different organ donation systems in place across different countries within the United Kingdom. Get information about the law where you are

Specialist nurses will always speak to your family if organ donation is a possibility, so talk to your family about your decision and give them the certainty they need to support it.

See how consent for organ donation is established

Anyone can register a decision

Anyone living in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man can register a decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register, there is no age limit, and parents can register their children.

Having an illness or medical condition doesn't stop you from registering your organ donation decision, and specialist healthcare professionals decide in each individual case whether organs and tissue are suitable for donation.

Get more information about who can donate

If you don't want to make an organ donation decision yourself, you can nominate someone to do it for you in the event of your death.

Nominate a representative now

You can change your mind

You can change your recorded decision at any time.

If you have recorded an organ donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and want to update your details, or change or reaffirm your decision, you can complete the Amend your details form or call 0300 123 23 23.

We will match your details and decision with your previous entry and send you a letter to confirm any changes.

No one is automatically added to a list

Unless you record your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register, we will not hold any details about you or your preferences.

We encourage everyone, whether they want to donate or not, to add themselves to the NHS Organ Donor Register so that their decision is recorded.

If you have not recorded an organ donation decision and you are not in one of the excluded groups, the starting position for adults in England and Wales is that donation should go ahead. This is what is known as deemed consent. You may also hear it referred to as an 'opt out' system for organ donation.

You can still choose whether or not you want to be an organ donor when you die by recording your decision and talking to your family.

There are different organ donation systems in place across different countries within the United Kingdom. Get information about the law where you are