Burnham 'regret' over organ donor register blunder

Health Secretary Andy Burnham has said he deeply regrets the distress caused to bereaved families of people whose organs were removed without consent following a huge blunder affecting the UK donor register.

Around 800,000 people had their wishes about the use of their organs wrongly recorded due to an error.

An investigation found that 45 individuals for whom false data were stored have since died.

The NHS is about to contact approximately 20 families who allowed organs to be taken after being misinformed about what consent had previously been given.

Mr Burnham said: "Giving the gift of an organ is a most selfless act and organ donors transform the lives of thousands of people every year. I want to assure the millions of people on the organ donor register that they can have full confidence that only their accurate information will be discussed with their families, and that their wishes will be respected.

"This has clearly not happened in a small number of cases in the past, and I deeply regret the distress caused to the families. In all cases, donation was discussed with family members before decisions were made. It is important that those who wish to donate tell their families of their wishes."