23/02/2018 House of Commons

Order, order!

The data request at this house it in

private. The clerk will now proceed

to lead the orders of the day.

Organ

Donation (Deemed Consent) Bill

second reading.

I beg to move the

second reading.

Well done.

Mr

Geoffrey Robinson. Thank you. It is

a great pleasure to see that the

Minister is in her place and I'm

very pleased that she gave out an

official statement of support from

the government but will be

supporting the spill, not just here

now at the second reading, but

through all its stages. It is very

welcome and I appreciate that very

much. I had no doubts at any stage

of our support. My honourable friend

is a shadow minister, who will also

be speaking from the front bench. In

this context, I must also mention

that the Prime Minister fairly early

on indicated to me that she had a

personal interest and lead our bill

her personal support. I would act as

a sincere thank you to the Prime

Minister for that. Rounding off this

stage of my thanks to those, I have

to mention the Leader of the

Opposition, his leadership on the

issue and his back-up I have

received from his office, the

leader's offers, have been an

invaluable support to me. Indeed, I

think we can say that we have seldom

seen such a unanimous range of

support. We have 11 members, seven

of them represent all Southern

political parties in this house. I

think if we can carry that level of

unanimity and commitment through to

the country and reach the consensus

we badly need there, it would be

very much in the interests of making

sure that the bill becomes an act

and that in due course, the act

becomes a very effective one in

achieving...

Yes, I give way. I am

grateful to him and can I preach

attributed to go using this

opportunity to bring the bill to the

house. I hope the house gives the

bill its endorsement today. Can I

assure him that, if the government

worked with him to ensure speedy

passage of this bill, they will have

the full support of the opposition

benches.

I am grateful for that. I

think him very much indeed for it.

His support has been consistent and

welcome and a great help. If we

needed any more help, I am pleased

to tell the house wheels have that

of the previous prime ministers,

will meet Prime Minister John Major

felt he could not support as and he

said he did not know enough about

it, which was sometimes a problem as

Prime Minister. I said earlier that

we should try to carry out now a

message from a United house,

reaching that sense of unity today,

into the country, and raise public

awareness and consciousness about

the need and the reasons for the opt

out solution we are proposing to

bring into this. And I believe that

if we can do that, that'll be a

major part of what the vote today,

the campaign we have been waging and

the act itself, to achieve. That has

been backed up and really reinforced

by the public consultation the

government itself launched. The

minister may remember it was my

honourable friend, who urged that

calls upon the government. They

responded quickly and to great

effect. And I think that the

response to it is of an

unprecedented nature. I'm informed

unofficially that the number of

individual responses is now offered

11,000, an unprecedented level, by

far the wreck of any public

consultation of this kind. Those are

11,000 separate individually written

letters on the topic. If people

don't think that is sufficient

awareness yet, I'm hoping that by

the end of the campaign, and that

campaign does not finish until the

6th of March, that they will find an

opportunity, it's online, easily

found, the government website,

they'll find an opportunity to

participate in it. That

predominantly positive response that

relate to understand the public

consultation is producing, it is

hardly surprising, although very

welcome, it's hardly surprising when

you think that according to recent

British Heart Foundation figures,

when questioned, up to 90% of the

public expressed themselves in

principle in favour of donation, but

only 36 get round to signing the

register. I was in that position for

a number of years and maybe some in

this house are also in that

position. It shows how effective in

opt out register could be. The

situation at the moment, why then we

are reactively looking towards an

opt out solution at this stage, is

because, if we take England for

example, the situation is

disappointing. We have some of the

lowest rates of consent for organ

donation in the west of Europe, no

family rates of consent being one of

the major barriers to the donor rate

actually increasing and in effect

preventing one third of available

organs from being used. They go

straight to the grave or to the

crematorium. None of us likes to

think about the worst happening and

it is challenging to have

conversations with families and

loved ones about one's wishes after

death. But one of the principal aims

of the bill must be to encourage

these open discussions among

families, so that the viewer wishes

of an individual can be known to

their nearest and dearest, which I

think it's reasonable to say in the

majority of cases, given the outcome

of the consultation, given what we

know from the polls, will be I'm

sure that they wish to donate their

organs after death. But there will

be those who take a different view.

There will be those who take a

different view, they may even be one

or two in the house it will feel

that way and make their views known

during the debate. What I say to

them is, I in no way wish them to

feel they are being railroaded into

decisions they do not wish to take.

Therefore, I would like to emphasise

to those who feel they cannot lend

their support or have doubts about

the bill at this stage, that there

will be soft soft opt out provision

built into the bill and there will

be a fair amount of discussion about

them during the committee stage, I

imagine. I will give way in one

second. I would want to assure them

that I will give my fullest personal

commitment to approach those

discussions around the opt out, in

the spirit of sympathetic

open-mindedness. I give way.

I am

here to support his bill, but I

would ask if he could engage with

the Jewish community to see if he

can allay their concerns about how

it might affect observance with

their religious teachings.

I am very

pleased to take that intervention,

because I do remember that one of

the Prime Minister is now supporting

us, Gordon Brown in fact, did try to

introduce or wanted to introduce an

opt out system, but came up against

a fairly immovable block in the then

Chief Rabbi, who said that he could

not commit the Jewish community to

supporting it, and that rather help

matters up. They were then overtaken

by other matters. But yes, we will

do that and I have been in touch and

we believe that the Council itself

now has made an official statement

supporting the bill.

I thank him for

giving way and he gradually him. He

has put in a lot of hard work in

securing this bill. As any member

who has dealt with the bill in the

House of Commons knows, that is a

lot of effort behind-the-scenes. I

think it's very important that the

assurances on opt out, particularly

to communities like the Jewish

community, is very important that we

convey that message and get further

support on that basis.

I am grateful

to my honourable friend and

colleague from our shared city. His

support along those lines is most

welcome to me. I notice my right

honourable friend the Leader has

come in. As I say again, I pay a

warm personal tribute to your

leadership on the issue and to the

tremendous help I have received from

your offers by way of back-up to the

bill. I am deeply grateful. I also

took the opportunity of expressing

gratitude to the Prime Minister who

has lent her personal support. I

know he would welcome that as well.

Did you want to intervene? I

apologise for just arriving. I thank

the honourable member for what he

has said. It is wonderful he has got

this bill introduced and I hope

today the house can pass it and save

an awful lot of people's lives in

the future.

That is indeed our room

and while I should sound certain

notes of caution about introducing

it to make sure we get that increase

and successfully utilise the

increase in organ donation, there

are certain things we have to watch

out for and I mentioned those as

part of a series approach to the

issue. I know you would want to see

his own government in June was and

we have to implement. I would hope

that would be the

I get the message that time is of no

essence and no liberty can press it.

Let me note what has been achieved.

We have a proud history of living

donor transplants. October 30, 1960

at the Royal infirmary of Edinburgh

and operation took place between

identical twins because at that time

the problems of rejection were still

a long way from any kind of reliable

solution. In November 1965 the first

transplant in the UK from a

non-heart beating donor was carried

out, again at the Royal infirmary in

Edinburgh. 1968 saw the first

successful heart and liver

transplants. That is a proud

tradition and I think all of us at

this stage, I'm sure the whole house

would join with me in congratulating

the NHS and all the staff concerned

in this department on magnificent

work. I'm sure the House would like

that to be on the... Yes, I will.

Thank you very much. Again, thank

you for bringing this Bill forward.

I think the point he is making and

we will move onto is transplant

surgery is now becoming routine and

people are living normal and long

lives a result. When I was growing

up a heart transplant was like

number one item on the news and now

they are being carried out daily.

But of course. The consequence of

that is to some extent victims of

our own success, we now have a

growing need for organs and a

growing waiting list which I will

mention in a moment for them. That

must be a problem concerning us all.

It must be a problem which as a

country we must seek a proper... I

will give way to the honourable

member.

I thank the honourable

member and congratulate him on his

campaign. 90,000 residents in

Doncaster are on the organ donation

register and I am one of them and

proud to be. 54 patients are

awaiting transplants in Doncaster.

Unfortunately my constituent Amy

not, her brother died waiting for a

double langue transplant. -- lung

transplant. Is it not the case we

need to secure more people who are

prepared to be part of this service

so we can save more lives?

I think

the whole house will be touched by

the particular constituency case and

the whole house will agree with what

she says about the need to increase

the availability of organs. We

believe there is an opt out system

where everybody very simply is part

of the system unless they choose to

opt out. I made it clear the opt out

procedure would be simple and we

will respect those who choose to do

so. But if we can get this in, it

will not make an immediate

difference tomorrow, but I am sure

in a period of years, as activity

rates of those in our capacity to

handle them successfully increase, I

am sure the availability of organs

will also increase. That is why I am

keen to get the Bill through second

reading today. Since those early

successes, some 50,000 people have

been given a second chance in life

in the UK. A new lease of life with

organ donation. I am sure the whole

house will join me in expressing

gratitude that we all feel to the

NHS for it. Mr Speaker, if our

history is a very proud one, we

cannot rest on our laurels.

Unaccountably in the last few years

the steady increase in the rate of

donation and transplantation has

slowed down. In the last four years

it has in effect in England

plateaued. In this background that

has been a grave concern that a

certain inertia is setting in. The

most recent figure for the UK as a

whole for this makes disquieting

reading. In March 2017, just last

year, the most recent figures, there

were 60,388 pensions registered on

the list for a transplant. --

patients. In the same year 437 died

while on the active waiting list.

More significant perhaps, 837 people

in the same period once more died

who had been removed from the active

waiting list, because while on it

they had become too unwell to

receive a transplant. That is how

serious the situation is. I will

give way to the honourable member.

I

congratulate him on bringing this

Bill, which I support. Many of my

constituents have contacted me about

children who have died for want of a

suitable donor. I wonder if at some

point in his speech he will refer to

how the Bill will benefit children

in need of an organ donor.

A most

moving aspect. We had a reception

last night in which many of those

children benefited from organ

donations and people whose children

were present and I will be coming to

them in a moment. I will give way to

the honourable member.

Thank you, he

is making an excellent speech. The

sad reality of course is behind

every organ donation is somebody who

has died. In order for the organs to

be donated. Yes, it is right and

proper that we see facilities for

children to be receiving donations

but it is a sensitive time for

parents who have seen the loss of a

child of their own. Those whose

organs would be donated. Will he

comment on how we can deal

sensitively with the families of

those whose children have died?

Well, yes. We would be happy to

across-the-board, I think. My

honourable friend draws attention to

a particular area of importance in

that. It is a vitally important

area, but it is only one of the

areas we hope to address. The other

categories are equally important, as

I am sure he would understand and

agree. Mr Speaker, I do not claim my

Bill alone is a panacea for our

problems. But I do believe and I am

convinced, I will give way in a

second, I am convinced it is a vital

prerequisite to impart fresh impetus

to the increase in organ donation we

know the country urgently needs. I

will give way to the honourable

member.

Thank you for giving way. I

congratulate him on introducing this

Bill and I will give it my support.

However, following on from the last

intervention, Wales introduced

presumed consent on organ donation

and I believe in 2016-17, 33

families were presumed consent was

assumed, 13 families actually

withdrew consent when they were

asked. Can he assure me that in his

legislation there will be room for

relatives still to be consulted and

withdraw that consent? It is after

all being asked for at a very

sensitive time. I want to make sure

families have that latitude whilst

busily trying to do everything to

increase organ donation.

Mr Speaker,

the honourable lady raises a

difficult point but an important

one. As part of the soft opt out

there will certainly be arrangements

for families, close friends, to

express their opinions and in all

cases what is interesting here is

Spain operates a system, because

they do not have an opt out

situation in effect, they do not

have a register, they consult in

every case with every family that

they can get to on time on the

register and as a result of those

consultations and the conversations

they can have with the families,

they have a tremendous rate of

consent. It can work the other way,

of course. We should make for

provision in the Bill for that.

There should be careful wording for

it. I invite those with particular

interest to look at it. But the

intent will be precisely... I pick

it up from my honourable friend's

intervention, there will be an

effective veto given to families in

that situation. I will take the lady

first, if I may, the honourable

member.

Thank you for giving way and

I also congratulate him on the Bill

today which I support. On the Port

of Spain does he agree that

highlights of this Bill is not

actually the action that part of the

solution? -- on the point of Spain.

They were looking to increase the

rate of donor organs by investing

heavily in transport and

infrastructure and the National

organ donation system.

Yes, Mr

Speaker, I shall mention some of the

investment it will need to make sure

it is a success, though moving at a

higher level with much better

infrastructure, certainly

infrastructure for nursing is vital

and the professional surgeon, the

body of professional surgeons and

specialist units available are much

greater than they are in Spain. We

recognise the success of the Spanish

system. At its heart is an ability

to get to the families and talk with

them and that should take place in

any case. We think when it takes

place against the backdrop of a

knocked out system it starts from a

different position and is likely to

produce hopefully more positive

results. I think...

I am grateful to

the honourable gentleman. Further to

his response by the member for

Amersham, I think it is fair to say

probably most if not all members

here today are here because we

support this measure and would like

it in statute. But the honourable

gentleman in his response said that

friends and family would be

consulted. I think we have to be

very clear that if this is not to be

brought into dispute and if we have

a wave of withdrawals not to be

generated, that is the last thing we

want. He must be very precise and

when he comes and when we hope this

Bill gets into committee, will he

make sure that issue is very clearly

addressed, please?

I am grateful, Mr

Speaker, again from a very

thoughtful intervention with good

foresight. I will give him that

assurance. As presenter of the Bill

I will take a personal interest in

seeing the right balance is struck.

Do not forget it will be struck in a

situation where the law of the land

is one of opt out. I think that

changes the very basis from the

starting point of the discussion

with the family will stop but we

shall treat it with proper caution

and respect which we know those

moments of agony and awful decision

taking pose for the families

concerned. I will give way to the

honourable member.

I'm very grateful

to him for giving way and I am here

to support his Bill. As a Welsh MP I

want to provide some reassurance. We

already have legislation in Wales

which has been working with an deal

specifically with that point. But we

do have the highest donation rates

of any nation in the UK. I welcome

his Bill and hope everyone will

support it today.

I'm very grateful

for that intervention. I was coming

onto the situation Wales. Which of

course I'm fairly and prematurely

has been prejudged as a failure,

even by it seems eminent authorities

such as the Nuffield Council on

bioethics, on the basis of figures

that were produced one year into a

scheme that had only just started.

The latest figures we have at the

latest reviewed article in the BMJ

suggests the following, I think it

is worth while emphasising it as

being some three or four years in

and from an article that is actually

dated in debris this year. It is up

to date and does have some years to

see the trend is available. --

February this year. The respected

journalist concerned in an article

that has been peer-reviewed

concluded Wales has experienced more

registered doctors, less family

refusals and more died Asians than

anywhere else in the UK since the

introduction of the system. -- and

more efficiency than anywhere else

in the UK since the introduction of

the system. None of the concerns

expressed by members right that this

morning about deemed consent have

materialised. The signs from Wales

are very good. These are early days

and I think we have to take note of

the Corsham that the council brings

to the case. We want to proceed

carefully. -- Nuffield Council --

the caution that the Nuffield

Council. One of the great things we

have about the present system is it

is trusted by the public. We cannot

put that trust at risk and we will

not. We will see it is well

introduced and I must say what I

have seen myself at first hand of

NHS blood and transplantation, it is

a well-organised outfit. We do have

a functioning register. We know what

we are doing and we are building up

a nursing capability which is

central as we are building up and

some investment will be needed for

the facility. Any growth in demand

will lead to a growth in, or a

growth in the requirement for

facilities. I say to the minister

while she is looking rather grim at

the moment, that is better! She will

have to make sure that while the NHS

is very much in favour of this as an

organisation, I quit a figure in a

moment, but it is very encouraging

that they think we can benefit in

terms of increased organs and save

lives. -- quote in a moment. But the

requirements for additional

resources must be met. All I can say

to honourable members in that

respect is the amount of money, a

small requirement in resources,

software, hardware, some facilities,

basically pretty much in the

software and training of the nurses

is minuscule in relation to the good

it can do. The sheer joy that you

can see in those around you,

particularly the children who have

had the benefit of a chance. I will

give way to the honourable member.

case to I am very grateful to him.

He sort of glossed over Wales and

his remarks. But the Welsh assembly

government research said that the

introduction of opt out has had no

impact on a number of organ donors

and Wales. Some reports say this has

led to a reduction in the number of

donors. I just wondered what

measures he had in his bill, what

learning he had taken from Wales, to

learn from the flaws there may have

been in that system?

That is a very

moderate intervention from him and I

am grateful for that. I think he

looking, he's probably looking at

the recent remarks and quotes from

the Nuffield Council, which relate

back to a year, if I'm not mistaken,

2016, we are now in 2018. The

situation has evolved and the figure

I recommend to him in the British

medical Journal, I leave it there

for him to read. It is a very full

account. It is very hopeful of the

situation in Wales. We will monitor

it carefully and we will be cautious

and practical and realistic in our

approach to the introduction of the

system in the UK.

I give way. I can

give him some good news on Wales.

This was pioneering legislation and

it was discussed very much when I

was Secretary of State for Wales.

But I was looking at the details on

some of the statistics from Wales

and this latest report on organ

donation and transplant activity. He

will be please to note that back in

2013, the number of people opted in

to the organ donation register in

Wales was up 1 million 213. For the

first three quarters of the year is

2017/18, that number has now

increased to 1,220,331 people. And I

think that is very positive news

from Wales that there are more

people opted in to that register.

Because the figure was so low back

in 2013, the Welsh government

decided to move to an opt out

system. I must agree with her and

disagree with those who will not

look at the most recent facts we

have, for some reason or other, they

just want to look at them and move

with the situation that is

developing, I just say that yes,

from that situation which is bad,

they went for an opt out system.

There was a period of bidding in, a

period when there seemed to be no

change, but the most recent figures

are showing a marked improvement. I

am sure we can all rejoice in that.

That is a fact and one that we can

all take... I will give way. We can

take great satisfaction from.

My

interest in this matter occurred

with this in who came here, a young

man, and lobbied. A year later, I

attended his funeral, because he did

not get the transplant, sadly, that

he wanted. But he had suffered

enormously in the preceding period.

But the period now has gone by, we

have had the opt out in Wales and

the situation is, what other people

do with the statistics, is that

people are living in Wales who

would've died before the law was

passed and people are dying

unnecessarily in England.

I am

grateful to him and I would like to

say that it was indeed his bill that

sparked off my own personal interest

and IP great tribute to the work you

did in preparing that bill, which we

have adopted almost in its entirety.

He will be pleased to know that we

are hopeful that his bill from the

beginning will find its way along

side my own bill on the statute

book. I know that will give him

great pleasure. What he says about

that individual case is certainly

true. The positive news I mentioned

from the NHS, very cautious

assessment from their part, they say

that, provided the opt out system,

and that is the quintessential

starting point for all these, is

introduced and backed up but the

necessarily revenue and capital

spending, they expect and up to 500

lives a year could be saved by the

Organ Donation (Deemed Consent)

Bill.

I am delighted to appear as

one of his supporters on the bill.

I'm very pleased to have my name on

this legislation. There is only one

thing I hope he will be able to look

at in committee on this, it's the

issue of deemed consent around

people who lose capacity towards the

end of their lives. I hope there

will be more clarity coming forward

in committee to enable people who

have made a decision, who want to

make their organs available, if it's

just their brain that is no longer

of much use to anybody else and they

do not have the capacity, I hope it

would be clear about the

circumstances when people lose

capacity towards the end of their

lives, when they are still able for

the rest of the body to be of use to

others.

The fact that he agreed to

be a supportive of the bill, his

name appears on the face of the

bill, he will be pleased to know. He

raises an area of great concern. If

something appears a committee stage,

it's not for second reading and I

will go into that for now.

I thank

him for bringing the bill to the

nose, which I will of course

support. He mentions a modest

investment in capital resources in

order to give effect to this when it

has become law, but does he not

agree with me that actually, by

saving lives, by making people

healthy enough to see the full part

in society, we will actually be

increasing the ability of our

country to succeed and also,

although the this is obviously a

secondary issue in comparison with

the saving of life, we will be

reducing some of the ridiculous

amount of spend on keeping people

just lives when they need organ

donations.

While entirely agreeing

with him and thanking him for that

intervention, I would rather not go

down the route of cost benefit

analysis. These matters are a case

of life and death and I think it's

best left there, and we want to save

lives, lives we know can be saved.

I

give way. I strongly support this

bill. Alongside this measure, and a

number of the other things he has

described, does he agree that the

most important thing we can do is to

have that conversation with our

families and our loved ones, to make

it absolutely clear to them that,

when we're gone, that we wish,

whatever bits of us of any use,

should be given to others, so that

they might continue to live. Isn't

that what we really need to do, to

make sure that as many as possible,

when a difficult conversation comes

to be had over a loved one who has

died in a hospital bed, the families

say, of course.

I entirely agree

with him. I don't know if he was in

the chamber when I made the

particular remarks about the

importance of family conversations.

There are absolutely vital. The

importance of public awareness, I

believe the government consultation

contributes enormously to public

awareness. Now we're certainly

example of needing to be registered

in the hall. I certainly have no

intention of even considering. And I

believe the other great contribution

we can make to this in personal

terms is to have those conversations

in our own families and to encourage

others to do so. But public

awareness would necessarily lead to

that. We know it is at that moment

when families are confronted with

the awful situation, that very often

they back off. Sometimes even

overriding the wishes of the

deceased, who happens to be a

registered donor. We can do no more

important work than have those

difficult conversations and

encourage others to do so as well.

Just on the point of people being

more aware of the differences it can

make. Yesterday I founder of the

time about the British Transplant

Games which are happening, where

people who have either been live

donors or had an organ transplant

is, actually take part in the games

event. This is happening in

Birmingham on the 2nd of August. I

thought that was wonderful. I met a

woman yesterday who was a live

donor, who was taking part in the

games with the person she had

deleted and Oregon to. I thought

this was wonderful. Nobody wants to

think about the worst thing

happening to their family or anyone

they love, but it would be a

wonderful thing to think that

anything I could give when I'm gone

would go to someone who should go

and live a fulfilling life and a

life that involves taking part in

some kind of sporting games. I think

we should be thinking about the

future and the real differences

coming for so many people. I am so

proud to be stood there with you at

this day and to be supporting your

bill.

I feel inclined to say, I rest

my case! I can't quite do that just

yet. I notice with Dolby

interventions, I think will a time,

I will presume noted conclusion if I

may. If we save 500 at avoidable

deaths because of organ donation,

the present waiting list of 6500,

with changed policies, some 500 in

effect on a life sentence, and the

Bill, with -- and they will, without

a Oregon becoming available, die

within the next year. That just

simply is not good enough. I believe

we can do better as a nation. We

should through the creation of the

NHS, something no other nation

achieved. Here I think we can be

pioneers in making transplantation

more successful, and is doing it

principally through greater organ

donation. I don't think my bill has

answered all the questions we have

discussed, or others that need

addressing in the course of this

debate. But I do believe and I am

convinced it is a necessary start to

get the increasing momentum, the the

impetus we lost. That's why we

introduced it in Wales, moving to an

opt out system. That's why I bring

it to the house today. My honourable

friend was speaking about watching

the games. We had many at the

reception given by the Daily Mirror

in the Terrace room. There it was

very moving, I met Max's Mum, as

she's come to be known, Mrs Emma

Johnson. She was giving us

up-to-date news on Max. He's become

a face of the campaign. I make no

excuse for being emotional about it.

He is still doing well now. Last

September, he went back to school

part-time. They are hoping next year

he will be back at school full-time.

Even more pleasing than that is

something I did not know one was

brought to my attention by the

member for North Devon, who

represents the donor family. Their

daughter was killed in a terrible

car crash, most unfortunate

incident, who gave her heart. Mrs

Johnson was saying how much she

looked forward to meeting the

family. She said, I wonder what

they'll feel when they put their

hands on Max's heart and feel their

daughter's heart is still beating

them. If the member for North Devon

would like to take part, I am sure

he would catch a ride in due course,

Mr Speaker. Many of isn't in this

house have one way or another been

affected. I would like to mention my

honourable friend for Sunderland

Central. His daughter unfortunately

could not come. She has been now for

12 months on daily dialysis, waiting

for a kidney and I know she will

also want to catch a ride. I hope

the party opposite will take this in

the best spirit, I must thank the

Daily Mirror for its magnificent

campaign on this issue. It shows

what a free press fighting

courageously can achieve on a brave

cause. I thank them for it and I

know they feel they have achieved

something, something more than other

newspapers achieve in 24 pages.

Thanks to the Mirror, he said,

nothing compared to the happiness we

feel at the paper every time we see

a successful transplant as a result

of our campaign, in part, taking

place, especially among the young.

I have had many letters and I do not

feel it appropriate to read... Let

me say that I believe today that the

House has a I will not say unique,

but an opportunity that might not

occur for several years if we do not

take it today. It is an opportunity

to introduce a Bill and if we

succeed in the second reading today

a Bill which could be enacted by the

end of this year and in effect could

already be making an effect in the

year after that. I believe it is an

opportunity. I believe the House is

in the mood to rise to the occasion

and I am sure we are going to seize

this opportunity to pass a Bill, to

become an act that we regard as an

act for life.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

The question is the Bill be now read

a second time. Dame Cheryl Gillan.

Thank you for calling me so early in

this debate. I add my

congratulations to the member for

Coventry North West for the

compassionate way in which he has

moved his Bill. And for bringing

this Bill before the House. I hope

I'm not presuming too much that I

think there is good support on both

sides of the House for this

legislation, but more importantly I

believe the minister who will be

speaking from the front bench will

also be giving her support to this

legislation. For me it is a bit like

deja vu. Because I went through all

of these arguments back in 2010,

when the Welsh Assembly was looking

at introducing the human

transplantation Wales act, finally

coming into force or was put into

legislation in 2013 and took effect

in 2015 in Wales. The permitting of

a knocked out system or this

presumed consent is quite a complex

concept. -- opt out system. It

received many objections at the time

from a large number of people on a

large number of grounds, to be

truthful. I was approached by the

kidney Wales Federation. They did a

fantastic job, along with a lot of

other organisations in lobbying

politicians and trying to explain

the position of families that were

waiting for organs and families who

had been approached to donate the

organs of a deceased relative. And

indeed many times the debate got

very heated. Also they gave advice

to a lot of myths in many cases.

When looking at the evidence for

this, I have always found the

medical profession and people

surrounding bereaved relatives or

relatives about to become bereaved

have always handled these matters

with great sensitivity and good

outcomes. Indeed, statistics show

the legislation in Wales as I

mentioned in my intervention still

allows families to withdraw the

so-called deemed consent, meaning

their views are taken into

consideration which I think is very

important. But one of the things I

looked at was the success rate of

the 2008 organ donation task force

which was in operation. And indeed

that helped increase donation rates

greatly in the five years of, from

its operation in 2008 there was a

50% increase in donors and a 30.5%

increase in transplants. That was

indeed impressive. At the time I was

exceedingly worried that by

introducing legislation that was

controversial we may do some damage

to a programme and campaign yielding

positive results. I think that is

something that needs to be taken

into consideration. The truth of the

matter is that there are more people

on the donation list than there are

organs available. I think for many

people in the chamber and beyond it

is also worth noting that there is a

particular problem in the population

on the list because 23% of people

waiting for organ donation were

people from the BME population and

only 1.2% of people on the register

at the time were from the BME

community. That big disparity was

causing a lot of aggravation. Can I

just say that I was very uncertain

about the legislation in Wales? I am

pleased to stand here as a

politician and admit openly I had

changed my mind. I think there is no

disgrace in changing your mind. I

think when the tax change you change

your mind. I think it is really

quite important. -- when the facts

change. One of the reasons why,

although I have changed the names as

well, is because I have a dear

friend, for the purposes of this

debate I will call him James -- Jane

and Jane has a son I had known since

he was born. I will call him John.

John has got primary cholangitis

which is a chronic liver disease

whereby the PAL ducks, passages

carrying the Bal from the liver to

the intestines are blocked and

narrowed by information. -- carrying

the bowels. And the liver will stop

functioning. Frankly the symptoms

can include tiredness, aching,

itching, abdominal pain, jaundice,

chills and fevers. The progression

of the disease, although very

variable, usually leads to one

conclusion, that the patient needs a

liver transplant. John has been told

because of a shortage of transplants

you have to be in cirrhosis before

you put on the list and then you

have to wait for a match. By that

time you might not be well enough to

have one. And to be close to a

family and to see the effect it has

upon them, Jane wrote to me and she

said "This has obviously affected

the whole family. John still lives

with us and we are in fact his

carers as we know he will only get

worse in time. We do not known how

much time he has but he cannot plan

for his future. Physically and

mentally it takes a great toll on

him because he does not known if he

will get a transplant when he needs

one. Organ donation would help a

great deal in this". When you have a

friend and a boy that is now a man

and a highly intelligent and

wonderful human being in that

position, I think you have got to

reconsider where you stand on

legislation like this. And the way I

look at it, Mr Speaker is this

legislation is not enough in itself,

but it will do no harm and will

again stimulate a debate and as long

as it is continuing to be

accompanied by campaigns to

encourage people to register,

encourage people to donate, that

continued campaign I think will help

raise the awareness that will help

increase statistics as we did in the

first five years following the organ

donation task force. We are all

living longer and who are we in this

House to say that if we can prolong

life and improve the quality-of-life

are people that suffer from rare

diseases, such as John, I think we

should do so. I had to say that I

will give this Bill a fair wind.

Obviously the devil will be in the

detail and we will need to look at

the legislation carefully. And I

would like us to consult and learn

from the experience in Wales,

because they will be a lot to learn

from them having forged the way. I

do not want a hard system like in

Austria. That is not what I

envisage. I still want the whole

area to be surrounded by the Keren

consideration of the medical

profession. -- care and

consideration. And latitude allowing

for the families of people with

genuine reasons not to take part in

this. But I do want to increase

people on the register and I want

increased organ donation and more

lives saved. I give the Bill a fair

wind.

Thank you, Mr Speaker for

calling me to speak in this most

important debate. I want to

congratulate my honourable friend,

the member for Coventry North West,

that for his success in the ballot,

no mean achievement, to get a

private members Bill and then for

choosing this most important topic

on which he has brought forward

today. I have to say I have always

supported for many years the opt out

system as opposed to opt in. What I

will talk about today has not

brought my decision that this is the

right thing but it amplified the

importance of the decision. I also

pay tribute to my honourable friend

the member for Barnsley Central who

has done so much good campaigning on

the issue. And the Daily Mirror, who

have already been mentioned for

their campaign. And the Prime

Minister and government for their

statement this week in support which

is very important. What I want to

talk about today is the story of my

family. It is something I really do,

talk about my family in public,

because it is neither entered public

life, not them. But there is nothing

special or unusual about my family.

What has happened in the last 18

months to us could happen to

anybody. Young or old, rich or poor.

There is no differentiation when

this kind of thing happens. It

highlights the reality of the need

to change the law to a position of

deemed consent. I have four grown-up

children, all now either married or

with long-term partners. I have five

wonderful grandchildren. We are a

very close family and I am lucky we

all lived within two miles of each

other in Sunderland. That is when I

am not down here. My eldest daughter

Rebecca is now 36. She is married

and has a six-year old daughter. She

was referred to the renal unit of

the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle

after routine tests showed a problem

with her kidney function. That was

October 2000 16. Not long ago. --

2016. After about a week in hospital

it was clear Rebecca was quite ill.

With significantly reduced kidney

function, which may at some point in

future lead to needing a transplant.

At that point that is where we

thought we were. It was a big enough

shop in itself. But the medical team

at Freeman Hospital thought they

could stabilise her condition. --

shock in itself. Rebecca had been OK

up to that point. She had some

issues health wise but was OK. The

diagnosis of chronic kidney disease

was a big shock for Rebecca, me, our

family and friends. And to face the

reality of the fragility of life is

very hard. At any time. But facing

it with one of my children, although

an adult, was one of the hardest

things I have ever had to face. The

shock my daughter, who until

recently had been a healthy and

happy young woman, was quite a

serious runner in her spare time,

regularly running half marathons and

occasionally a marathon and in fact

only in the weeks before she was ill

in that October she gained a place

for the London Marathon last year. I

had to say she did not do it,

obviously. For somebody like that to

suddenly becomes so ill, the shock

of that is impossible to describe. I

had to say she did not get her

fitness drive from her mother, who

goes and watches her running but

doesn't do it. Rebecca's condition

sadly deteriorated very quickly from

that point. In June last year she

was having surgery to enable her to

start dialysis. One of the only

positive things of the general

election campaign from my point of

view was that I was at home for six

weeks. During the time her health

was deteriorating rapidly I was

actually able to drop everything and

get to the hospital quickly which is

harder when you are 300 miles away.

She started dialysis in July last

year. I want to talk a little bit

about the daily reality of Rebecca's

live. In the two or three months

leading up to having surgery, she

became increasingly unwell. To a

point where on a daily basis the

last few weeks, she was lying on a

sofa when she got up, she was not

eating particularly well, if at all,

a slice of toast, a bowl of cereal,

because when you have kidney failure

you feel very sick and just

generally are not well and had no

energy. She could not really walk to

the end of the street.

Dialysis, when it arrived, although

when it was mentioned to us at

first, it was a terrifying prospect,

it actually has made her have a

quality of life again. She is back

at work, but she does have

restrictions. She does what is

called PD dialysis. She has a

machine at home and links on to it

every night. For eight hours, she

does dialysis. She is back at work,

she has a very strict diet, and for

Rebecca, that means no coffee,

chocolate or cheese, three things

she loves. She is here and she is

alive and that's is, whenever she

has a bad day, and she does have bad

days emotionally, because it is a

very difficult thing to be dealing

with, and she will say, I am sick of

this dialysis. And I say, just

think, what is the alternative and

that very quickly focuses your mind

and you pick yourself up. As a

family, and close friends, we have

all rallied round to support Rebecca

and each other through this

challenging time. And I want to talk

a little bit about the impact of

this kind of illness. Of course.

My

heart goes out to you, as I'm sure

everybody on both sides of the

highs, it does as well, for what you

have been going through. I would

like briefly to talk about dialysis.

A constituent of mine, a very young

girl. This is a Facebook post and I

think it hits home to a really young

child. Today, 1608 days of total

kidney failure. 19,000 hours spent

on dialysis. Still waiting for that

precious call for the match to be

found. Would she agree that when we

think of children and people like

your own daughter, it's very hard

not to support this bill today?

Absolutely.

Absolutely, and it's

indiscriminate to it strikes. When

you attend, and I do attend just

about every appointment with

Rebecca, he see people, from very

young to older people, from all

walks of life. It's absolutely

indiscriminate and it's

heartbreaking seeing people, every

one of those people has a family and

the story. It is very difficult. I

want to talk a little bit about the

impact of this kind of illness on

the wider family, because, as

Rebecca's health rapidly

deteriorated, she had to be off work

sick quite a lot. And has had some

considerable time of sick and even

though she is back at work, there

was a day this week when she was not

well in the middle of the day and

had to come home. Dialysis does not

mean you are fit, well, healthy and

leading a normal life. She has been

very lucky. Her employers, it

solicitors in Newcastle, have been

an amazing support to her. They have

done everything they can to help

out. They have done fundraisers to

raise money for a kidney charities.

And particularly, her colleagues Kay

and Lindsay, if I am trying to get

to the hospital she takes a suddenly

ill, they come from work and sit

with and stay with her until one of

the family can get there. And I do

want to thank them publicly, because

there are many people in this

situation who are not so lucky and

face losing their jobs, and the

hardships and all the problems that

creates. So I think it is important

to say thank you to people who have

been fantastic. I next want to

mention the renal unit at the

Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, who

are not only a world-class unit, but

also of some of the most amazing and

dedicated staff I have ever come

across. From the time you walk

through the door at the outpatient

unit, the receptionist and is always

smiling and all was well coming,

always looking after you, right

through to the most senior doctors.

And we have seen a lot of different

doctors as this illness has

progressed. The entire team are

amazing, particularly at the moment,

the PD nurses looking after

Rebecca's analysis. They look after

Rebecca, but they also look after

her family. They have got to know us

all, because we have all been at

different stages with her. They are

the essence of everything that is

great about our health service.

Working under the enormous pressures

on their time and resources, but

they always have time for you. I

want to see a personal thank you to

them. I know it is not a political

debate as such, but I am a

politician, so I hope you give me a

moment's licence. I will say that

the health service staff need at the

rise and the NHS needs more

investment, because I just think

they are such amazing people and

they were truly make the difference

every single day to people living

and dying. The impact on our family

has been huge. You go through a

period of shock and disbelief and

anger as to why Rebecca. And more

than one doctor has said to us

through this period that it should

not be happening to her, she has

been a fit and healthy young woman

who has done everything right in

terms of looking after her health.

They can find the reason why this

has happened. The emotions you go

through is like a roller-coaster.

It's not just the direct impact of

what is happening medically to

Rebecca, but the emotional impact of

seeing what is happening to her

might mean that your daughter might

not be there when I am still here,

which is not something any parent

ever wants to consider. But it is

also, although my children have

grown up, they are having to deal

with seeing their mother is coping

than I normally am, and Diame the

fairly strident, copying kind of

woman normally, but also for all of

them, dealing with their sister

might not be here and that is all

very difficult. We have rallied

round and supported each other and

we remain very positive. Rebecca is

very lucky that she has a brother

and sisters, my sister, her husband

Andy great mother who have all

played their role and continue to

play their role in supporting this

journey we are on. It is very

difficult being on call for the

phone call. My phone is here all the

time and it's very difficult being

300 miles away when you are in this

situation. We travel light of the

country in this job, so whenever I

travel on business with Parliament,

I have a plan for however get back.

I think it's important to tell

colleagues have given me a huge

amount of support, from all sides of

the house, to say thank you. The

website been fantastic and have

always said, just go and text

doesn't tell us you have one. Our

deputy whip, the Right Honourable

member for Tynemouth, has known

Rebecca since she was a child. I was

his agent in 1997 when he got

elected to this place. Rebecca,

being my daughter, ran around the

committee rooms. It has been really

lovely, the support. A lot of the

time in this place, we see the

differences that we have

highlighted, but actually at the end

of the day, we are all people trying

to do the best for our constituents

and we all care about people. For me

as a mother, my natural instinct has

always been to make things better

for your children. It's what we all

do. And to me, she will always be

the baby I gave birth to its 36

years ago. You love that child

instantly and unconditionally and

that never changes. It's a terrible

situation not to be able to fix

something that has gone terribly

wrong. But what I can do in the

privileged position of being a

member in this place is raise

awareness campaign for a change in

the law or that deemed consent. I

think the change in the law needs to

come and I want to touch on the

investment I think needs to happen

on the back of the change in the

law, which has been alluded to by a

number of contributions. That is, in

schools, this issue needs to be

talked about. In families, the issue

needs to be talked about, so that

transplantation becomes a normal

part of the conversation of life.

And the investment into the health

service to support what I believe

will be an increase in numbers of

donor organs that will become

available.

I thank her for giving

way and I wish her and Rebecca all

the very best for the future. This

bill is really important and that's

why am here to support it. Which she

also acknowledge those live donors,

who give an Oregon? A friend of

mine, Jane, has recently given a

kidney to her nephew in law, an

incredible thing to do. Very

difficult for many of us to imagine

it. But has turned around the life

of her nephew in law, in the way I

hope Rebecca's level be turned

around eventually. Those people who

give their organs, although not part

of this legislation, also deserve

the praise of this house. And

perhaps we also need to raise

awareness about that possibility.

Five members of my family, including

myself when forward to be donors,

but none of us matched, because that

is difficult and we have now got one

member of the family entering a pull

situation, where it's likely swap

shop of organs. Of someone has an

Oregon but that is Rebecca and one

of the members of my family that

someone else, then that will work.

That is a marvellous thing to do and

you are absolutely right to draw

attention to that. I want to see a

couple of things about presumed

consent. It does mean that some

people have the right to opt out.

Some people will opt out of giving

organs. I think that is a very

important thing that needs to be in

the legislation. I absolutely

respect people's decisions to opt

out. It is not the right thing for

everybody to do. And I think that is

as important as changing the law as

it stands now. And my final words

today are for the families of

donors. Your selfless actions, by

deleting organs of your loved ones

at a time of such personal grief, to

save the lives of people you don't

know, is such a wonderful thing to

do, that everyone should be grateful

for. And everybody should thank

those people. And that grief of

losing a loved one carries on for

ever, but I am sure that there is

some comfort in the fact that their

family and their loved one's organs

have gone to help someone else will

bring some comfort in that

situation. But I think it is

important to say thank you.

Hopefully, one day a family member

-- as hopefully one day their family

member of recipients, I want to say

thank you from the bottom of my

heart. You're very special. Let us

today passes Bill to the committee

stage and make the change in the

law, to save more lives, of

thousands waiting for transplants

today. I think today is a day when

Parliament will see at its best,

overcoming political differences for

something that's just needs to

change. And it is a day I think we

should be proud of.

Thank you. It is

an honour to follow the Honourable

member for Sunderland 's Central. We

have all learned today that Rebecca

is just as strong and brave as her

mother. I would also like to

congratulate the Honourable member

for Coventry North West were

bringing this bill to the house, for

the compassionate and positive tone

he has taken condemned by the

collaborative way he is working

across the house to make sure we can

drive this forward. This is a vital

piece of legislation and it is

genuinely a life and death issue we

are talking about. It is the tragedy

that 456 adults and 14 children lost

their lives last year while on the

organ donation list. Every single

day, somebody is dying because

they're not getting the transplant

they desperately need. There are

currently 6500 people waiting for

organs, who do not want to become

part of those statistics. This

legislation is for them and is about

saving lives. And saving lives it

does. There are about 50,000 people

today alive in the UK who are alive

because they have received an organ

transplant. 25 million people are

currently on the NHS organ donor

list, including myself. This is up

75% over the last ten years, and

transplants themselves up 56%. This

bill is about removing obstructions

to donating, at the same time as

allowing anyone who does not wish to

donate to opt out. I think it's very

important that we do not attach any

stigma to anybody who chooses to opt

out for a variety of perfectly valid

reasons.

I am very grateful to him

by giving way. The right Honourable

gentleman that has introduced this

bill has identified a real issue

which he supports. I certainly have

no intention of blocking his bill

today, but does he share some of the

misgivings that some people have in

principle, about the state presuming

that people have consented to

something, when actually they have

not? And the potential further

implications that might have for

Public policy in the future? Does he

have any understanding about those

misgivings of the state presuming

people have done something they have

not done?

I think this is a matter of life and

death. The numbers of people willing

to support organ donation in

principle yet the relatively low

figure of those who have gone on to

the organ donation list despite it

only takes two minutes to do so is

alarming. In an ideal world the

ideal situation would be everybody

is completely educated and

voluntarily making their own choice

but that is not happening in this

particular situation so I think many

of these issues will be raised in

the Bill Committee and hopefully can

find a reasonable and skill.

Is the

honourable member aware that in the

last ten years the number of organ

donors has increased by 75% and the

great dance bands has increased by

56% so is the really a need for this

Bill?

Yes because there are still a

long way to go and people are still

dying because they are not getting

donations and transplant is they

need so I think there is an absolute

need for moving forward with this

build. If we look as well as

alternative systems around the world

which other and got the example of

Spain which has a system that I

think we are looking towards as some

kind of model, perhaps not exactly,

where they are a world leading in

43.4% deceased donors per million.

It is joined at the top of that

league table by other opt out system

in countries like Croatia, Portugal,

France and Italy. All of these

countries have better donor rates

and England and all other opt out

rather than opt in system is so the

other advantage that comes from

these opt out systems is they do not

deny or restrict the role of

bereaved families and allow them to

be consulted on the wishes of their

loved ones and I think this is

another important point. One thing

that surprised me with the 43.4 at

of a million figure was how

incredibly low it is. At the million

people die in the UK every year yet

just 1% of those people who died die

in circumstances or conditions that

enable them to even potentially be

donors. Think that is quite

important. Just because you are on

the donor list doesn't mean you will

end up dominating your organs but we

need to get the figure as high as

possible in order to help as many

people as we can. That also means

having the supporting infrastructure

to enable those who wish to donate

to actually done it. We have all

heard of examples of people being

willing to donate their organs but

for example but about at the web

awakened in a hospital where there

is no capability but those organs to

be taken out of their bodies and

transplanted so I do think we also

need to look very carefully at the

supporting mechanism for any changes

brought forward. It has also been

mentioned by quite a few colleagues

that the over all awareness needs to

be raised and I think there is

another important point in terms of

encouraging family consent, it is

very telling that in cases where

specialist nurses are involved

consent rates of 67.6% and in those

were as Mrs Norris is not involved,

the plummeted to 20.5%. There is

clear statistical evidence that when

provided with impartial but expert

information about the possibility of

donated, people are more likely to

consent to the meeting. One of the

Proms we have is there is still an

awkwardness or queasiness about the

idea of your body being examined and

operated on post death. While we are

often very comfortable about that

ourselves and our families in these

horrible circumstances where we had

passed away particularly under

tragic circumstances or with no

notice are particularly queasy about

the idea. Therefore it is vitally

important that we continue and have

these dialogues, that we all have

these conversations with our family

and children because children can

also be donors themselves. And make

sure we have informed conversations.

It is simply not right that we are

currently in a situation where 80%

of people they would be willing to

donate their organs but only 36%

actually register to do so. The

number is increasing and we needed

to be much higher. In a world

publicised opt out system these

figures could converge and the 20%

who are unwilling to donate would

have a simple mechanism for making

sure that they... Many years ago I

was asked if I had a private

members' Bill, I think it was during

the selection process, what would

the Bill be? It would be exactly

this one. Hopefully the honourable

member will be in no doubt that the

boy support this Bill and took many

not all our colleagues this was.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, for

calling me in this very important

debate. I would like to congratulate

my honourable friend from Coventry

North West. Raising the awareness. I

would also like to thank and

congratulate my colleague and

friend, the MP from Sunderland

Central, for a very emotional,

personal and courageous contribution

to the debate. I am quite confident

that the public will take note of

that. Others have spoken at length

about the importance of raising

donations and there rates. I have my

own personal reasons for supporting

it. My own younger brother waiting

for over five years for somebody,

somewhere to donate a kidney to him.

And he is doing dialysis four times

a week. Another very close personal

friend also went through the same

difficult times so I have that

recent other than my personal and

also a moral commitment to the

cause. As everybody and many of you

colleagues have said, more than 6000

people still sit actively waiting

for a transplant in the UK. Three

people die every day because they

cannot get the transplant they need.

Over the last ten years the number

of donors has increased by 75% and

that is fantastic and has saved

countless lives. But there is still

a great shortage both in the UK and

as a global community,

internationally as well. You go to

any country, you will be asked what

are you doing? I am glad that

Britain once again is leading in

this field so that the rest of the

world can learn and pick up the

ideas from here. Only a third of

eventual donors are registered to

donate at the time of their death.

This number is even lower amongst

the BME communities. BME patients

they are far worse that other

patients, they will on average wait

six months longer for a transplant

than white patients. I do apologise,

that is maybe a language not

politically correct but I think that

the convenience I am using, black

and white in this case. BME people

face the struggle of comparatively

rare blood and tissue types and

compatible organs. And while the

overall number of donors has

increased by 75% BME donors

donations have only increased by

less than 7%. That is only a

fraction of the rate for white

people and this has translated

directly into the deaths. There is

still a problem with public

education and awareness. The

families of minority populations are

also less likely to consent to organ

donation when asked after death. 64%

of BME families are refusing

permission for donation compared to

only 43% for the rest of the

population. And opt out system

rather than an opt in system will

increase the likelihood donors of

the same blood and tissue types

related to members of the BME

community. Increasing the number of

compatible organs on the transplant

list would save thousands of lives

each year.

I thank the honourable

gentleman forgiving way. He is

actually making some extremely

important points in the speech and I

am particular cancers of and really

want to tackle it but just to give

some more amplification to the point

he is making, of the six and a half

thousand people on the waiting list

over 1000 of them are from Asian

backgrounds and 800 of them are

black. I would just like to endorse

his point that in terms of actually

being more racial Ben is we need to

increase donation from those parts

of the community.

I am thankful for

your very positive intervention and

information given to the rest of the

members here. Activist groups and

campaigners such as the National BME

transplant Alliance support the move

to end opt out system because it

will ultimately save more lives

across our diverse country.

I think

my honourable friend forgiving way

and support everything he says. Like

himself I represent consistency with

a higher proportion of BME

communities and there are a low

levels of people committing to

donate organs but also higher rates

of heart disease amongst these

communities as well, subject to a

fire it is very important we get

many people from the BME on the list

in future.

I was going to raise that

and I am thankful for you to

highlight it and support it. Issues

such as diabetes, high blood

pressure and hepatitis are more

common in BME communities, making

them more likely to need transplant

organs. BME patients make up a third

of the kidney transplant waiting

list and wait an average of a year

longer for a transplant than their

white counterparts. Just one person

can save or improve up to nine

lives. It can give life to so many

through organ donation and even more

if they donate tissue as well. While

in the UK, ethnic minorities

constitute only 11% of the

population, they make up nearly a

quarter of transplant waiting list.

And only six out of every 100 people

signed up to that NHS organ donor

register or from BME communities.

Opt out can and will save lives. It

respects religious differences and

takes away no freedom of expression

or belief. I know that countless

constituents of mine have written in

to urge me to coming here on Friday

to support this Bill. And I am proud

to do so and to lend my support to

the honourable member for Coventry

North West. Thank you.

Peter

Heaton-Jones.

Thank you. I am

delighted to be here to support this

Bill today. In doing so I am not

going to rehearse many of the

arguments which have been so ably

put already. Not least by the

honourable member for Coventry North

West whose speech I think on its own

was enough to persuade a club

members of this has to support this

excellent measure today. What I am

here to do today is to tell one

story and it is a story which was

raised initially by the member for

Coventry North West. It is the story

of my constituent and her family,

young hero wall. It was on Sunday

morning, the 30th of July last year

that there was a road traffic

collision on the 8361 North Devon

Link Road. It took place only about

five miles from my own home in North

Devon on what they have to say is a

stretch of road notorious for

accidents in which we are working on

hard to improve. . In the course of

the accident to vehicles were

involved, one of them was a car

carrying members of the ball family.

Akira, her young brother and their

mother. Their vehicle was in

collision with another. They blamed

workaday paramedics, emergency

service and all the stuff in the

NHS, three separate hospitals that

those people were taken to. The

brilliant work was undertaken. Sadly

two days later on the Tuesday

afternoon young Ciara Ball passed

away, she was nine years old. Her

mother was very seriously injured,

as indeed was her brother Brad.

Immediately after her death, her

father Joe took the agonising

decision but the right decision that

he wanted his daughter 's death to

give life to other people and so he

took the decision that young carer's

organs should be donated. I have had

contact this week, they live in

Barnstable in my constituency and I

have sought permission to make sure

that they are happy for me to tell

Ciara's. Read today which indeed

they are because they recognise as I

do that this could be an inspiration

to others to ensure that they too

sign up for organ donation and will

give them strength if they have to

face similar circumstances.

Following that decision by Ciara's

father, four people are alive today

who otherwise would not be. Ciara

donated her kidneys, heart, Labour

and her pancreas. -- Labour. One was

given to a man in his 30s who had