A TOTAL of 41 people in Wiltshire have died whilst waiting for an organ transplant over the last decade, new figures reveal.

NHS Blood and Transplant revealed the number of deaths to mark Organ Donation Week, September 4-10, and now people are being urged to tell their families about becoming a donor.

The NHSBT also announced that hundreds of life saving transplants are being missed every year because families do not know what their relative wanted as families often decide it is safer to say no.

In Wiltshire, there are currently 70 people waiting for a transplant.

Anthony Clarkson, assistant director of organ donation and transplantation for NHSBT, said: "It is a tragedy that people are dying unnecessarily every year in Wiltshire waiting for transplants.

"We know that if everyone who supported donation talked about it and agreed to donate, most of those lives would be saved.

"This Organ Donation Week, tell your family you want to save lives. A few words now can make an extraordinary difference. It will also make things much easier for your family to make the right decision.

"If you want to save lives, don’t leave it too late to talk to your family. In Wiltshire there are more than 296,000 people on the NHS Organ Donor Register. However if you want to be a donor, your family’s support is still needed for donation to go ahead.

"If you are unsure about donation, please ask yourselves as a family; what would you do if one of you needed a transplant? Would you accept a life-saving organ? If you would take an organ, shouldn’t you be prepared to donate?"

NHS Blood and Transplant surveys show more than 80 per cent of people support organ donation but only around 49 per cent of people have ever talked about it.

Research shows that women are 30 per cent more likely to start a conversation about organ donation than men and that families who agree to donate say it helps with their grief and that they feel enormous sense of pride at knowing their relative gave others the chance of a new beginning.

To support Organ Donation Week visit http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/get-involved/promoting-donation-hub/download-digital-materials/organ-donation-week/