NHS study to get to the heart of organ donation

UK-- The National Health Service (NHS) Blood and Transplant division has appointed Synovate to investigate why people decide not to donate their organs after death.

The research agency will carry out face-to-face interviews with around 3,000 people and test advertising campaigns designed to encourage donation through a series of 13 focus groups.

An NHS spokesman told Research the survey would be completed by the end of March. He said: “We have an inkling of why people chose not to donate but want to find the exact reasons.”

Nigel Jackson, head of the public and voluntary sector team at Synovate UK, said: “Existing data tells us that emotional issues, such as not wanting to think about our own mortality, may play a much bigger role than we think in the decision to sign up to the Organ Donor Register.”

The project follows the publication last year of the Organ Donation Taskforce report, which called for a 50% increase in organ donation within five years.

Author: James Verrinder