Emily Graves spoke with Dr Peter Saunders from Christian Medical Fellowship about the implications of the bill for Wales and the rest of the UK.



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Dr Peter Saunders: Yes. We don't think there's any real evidence that it works to increase the number of organs available and because of these ethical concerns we have about it we don't feel we should be going down this route. There are some countries, they claim, where it has helped to, or has been associated with, an increase. But there have been other countries - Chile is one example - where they introduced presumed consent and the number of donations actually went down. We think there are better ways of doing it and back in 2008 the organ donation task force that looks at these issues made a number of recommendations throughout the UK, which didn't include presumed consent at all, but which have led to a huge increase in organ donation. Since 2008 we've had a 50% increase in organ donations throughout the UK through other means and in Scotland and Northern Ireland figures were 74% and 82% respectively.

The main thing that seems to make a difference is the appointment and training of specialist nurses who can spend time with the bereaved family, really sensitively explore the thing, talk them through all the steps involved, make sure that there's no element of coercion and that it really is a voluntary choice. Then also what's really important is to feed back news about the people who've been able to be helped because that can really help a family to be able to cope with a death. We think the whole thing should be done relationally in the context of discussion and that it shouldn't be a decision made behind closed doors where the family can be overruled, but the family has to be very much at the centre of things. If we put them in a situation where they feel they've lost control and that their loved one's been raided for organs before they've had a chance to think through it, it could really damage and undermine trust, so we think relationship, donation and gift have to be right at the heart of this and these are strong Christian principles.

Emily: Why is trust so important in this?

Dr Peter Saunders: If people feel that there is an undermining of trust: that decisions are being made by powerful people into which they have no input whatsoever and that they're on a kind of conveyor belt where they haven't had a chance to be able to think through things, it can undermine trust and that leads to fear and anxiety. It can lead to bad consequences for the family because of that and also, more widely, distrust so people hearing about it will perhaps opt out of organ transplant when they might have been quite happy to opt in if it had been better handled in the past. I want to again underline the fact that organ donation virtually always takes place in the context of sudden death when people are hugely traumatised and that's why it needs to be so carefully handled.

Emily: Wales is the first country in the UK to go ahead and do this. Do you think that it encourages England and Scotland to watch what happens and bring a similar bill in England and Scotland?

Dr Peter Saunders: There are consultations that are either underway or about to be underway in other places. Just recently Scotland has said that they want to see how the thing works in Wales first before they embark upon it, so that would mean a few more years, but there is pressure being put on by groups like the British Medical Association who are very keen about this new approach. As I've said we take a very different view from them, so yes there are anxieties that this might be the thin edge of the wedge; that Wales is a soft way in and that it might be a ploy to get the other parts of the United Kingdom to agree to it without properly thinking through the issues. It will no doubt influence the situation elsewhere and of course if it doesn't work in terms of providing more organs then the other parts of the United Kingdom will be more resolute in wanting to go in the opposite direction.

Emily: How can we find out more about Christian Medical Fellowship?

Dr Peter Saunders: The best way is through our website which is cmf.org.uk and you'll find links to our blog there; to media interviews and to a whole host of resources on a huge range of issues at the interface of Christianity and medicine. People in churches can get in touch with the Christian doctors in their church or denomination, because we have 4,000 doctors as members and thousands of medical students. We're interdenominational so they're spread throughout churches all over the UK. CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.