Opt out legislation reports
Opt out legislation has been introduced across all UK nations and most Crown dependencies since first introduced in Wales in December 2015.
The detail of the legislation varies across the different nations, but the principal remains the same; all adults with the capacity to understand the notion of deemed consent or authorisation prior to death, who are ordinarily residence in the nation in which they died, are deemed to have given consent or authorisation to organ donation unless they have previously expressed a decision to opt out.
Find out more information about the legislative differences
Find out more information about consent and authorisation in organ donation
Current legislation status
See the current legislation status for each UK nation and Crown dependencies.
England
Current legislation: opt out - deemed consent
Implementation: 20 May 2020
Guernsey
Current legislation: opt out - deemed consent
Implementation: 1 January 2023
Isle of Man
Current legislation: opt in
Proposed legislation: opt out - deemed consent
Implementation: opt out legislation in process
Jersey
Current legislation: opt out - deemed consent
Implementation: 1 July 2019
Northern Ireland
Current legislation: opt out - deemed consent
Implementation: 1 June 2023
Scotland
Current legislation: opt out - deemed authorisation
Implementation: 26 March 2021
Wales
Current legislation: opt out - deemed consent
Implementation: 1 December 2015
Latest opt out summary report
The annual report summaries registrations on the Organ Donor Register and key metrics from the UK Potential Donor Audit for 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.
Annual opt-out summary report, 1 April 2023 - 31 March 2024 (PDF 481KB)
Academic evaluation of the impact of opt out legislation
There have been two NHSBT studies exploring the impact of opt out legislation in the UK. Madden et al published an evaluation of the impact of opt out legislation on consent rates for deceased organ donation in Wales1.
The impact of opt out legislation in England coincided with the beginning of the COVID pandemic which complicated the evaluation of the impact on consent rates for organ donation in England. The executive summary (PDF 157KB) provides an evaluation of the impact of opt-out legislation on consent rates in England.
An independent evaluation of the legislation conducted by the London School of Health and Tropical Medicine is due to be published shortly. A link to the report will be made available here, once it has been published. Ongoing monitoring of the impact of opt out legislation in the UK is provided through the annual opt out summary reports provided above.
Reference
1 S. Madden, D. Collett, P. Walton, K. Empson, J. Forsythe, A. Ingham, K. Morgan, P. Murphy, J. Neuberger, D. Gardiner. The effect on consent rates for deceased organ donation in Wales after the introduction of an opt-out system. Anaesthesia 2020; 75:1146-1152. https://doi.org/10.1111/anae.15055