JICS Education: Organ donation in intensive care. The law, ethics and clinical practice

Deceased organ donation is an integral component of intensive care practice. In the UK, around 8000 people are on the active transplant waiting list at any one time, and approximately 3500 deceased donor transplants are performed annually. This article addresses the legal framework for donation in the UK, including the introduction of deemed consent/authorisation across all four nations, the ethical framework provided by the Donation Actions Framework, the role of the Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation (SNOD), optimisation of the donation after brainstem death (DBD) donor, and management of withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment (WLST) in donation after circulatory death (DCD), including normothermic regional perfusion.