The NHS has called on more people to talk about organ donation as the latest figures regarding those who have died waiting for a transplant were released.

According to these statistics, 803 people in London across the past ten years have died while waiting for a new organ.

In Harrow, 25 people died over the past decade while on the waiting list and there are currently 44 people in need a transplant. There are 60,125 Harrow residents on the NHS Organ Donor Register.

The latest figures show that there is a particular need for black and Asian people to talk about donation.

There are 873 people from these communities in London awaiting a transplant and, nationally, they make up 29 per cent of the list.

The NHS noted that black and Asian people are less likely to donate their organs yet those from the same ethnic background are more likely to be a close match and give the best chance of a positive outcome.

It believes that hundreds of life saving transplants are being missed every year because families don’t know what their relative wanted and, left to make the decision for someone they love, they often decide it is safer to say no.

Anthony Clarkson, Assistant Director of Organ Donation and Transplantation for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “It’s a tragedy that people are dying unnecessarily every year in London 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.

“If you want to save lives, don’t leave it too late to talk to your family. In London there are more than 2.47m 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’d take an organ, shouldn’t you be prepared to donate?”

Surveys showed that more than 80 per cent of people support organ donation but less than half of people have ever talked about the issue.