More organ donors are needed

The number of people listed on the NHS organ donor register has doubled over the past five years.

The news comes on the day one of country's biggest transplant hospitals said it was carrying out more life-saving lung transplants.

Some 16% of people in the Northern region - from North Yorkshire to the Scottish border - have pledged to help others after their death by signing up to the donor register.

Lynn Robson, transplant coordinator at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, said: "Five years ago about 540,000 people had signed up to save lives, but that has now leapt to 1.02 million - 16% of the population in the North of England.

"These figures show the big-heartedness of Northern people and I'd like to thank them for the very special gift they are offering.

"Signing up to the Organ Donor Register is very important, but it is also vital that people discuss with their relatives their wishes after their death."

Kidney transplants

In the year to March 2003, 106 people in the region donated organs after their death and a further 36 people became living donors by giving a kidney to a relative or friend.

During the same period 325 people in the region received transplants.

Twenty eight people were given new hearts, 63 patients received a donated liver and the lives of 213 people were transformed by a kidney transplant.

At the Freeman doctors transplanted 49 lungs, mainly helping young adults with cystic fibrosis.

Kidney, heart, lung and liver transplants are carried out in Newcastle and Leeds.

More than 5,700 people are waiting for a transplant, but just under 2,800 are carried out each year.

Almost 400 people each year die while waiting for a suitable organ to be donated and many others die before joining the waiting list.

In the North, there are currently 700 people including 30 children waiting for organ transplants.