MORE than 4,000 people from the region have had their lives saved or transformed thanks to an organ transplant in the past three decades, new figures show.

But around 350 patients across West Yorkshire remain on the transplant waiting list so the need for organ donors is as great as ever, say NHS chiefs.

Data has been released to mark 30 years since the creation of the NHS organ donor register.

The statistics also show that across the wider north-east and Yorkshire region, over 14,500 lives have been saved or improved through organ donation since 1994 – but more than 1,000 people currently require a transplant.

UK-wide, there are presently over 7,600 people on the transplant waiting list.

This year's Organ Donation Week – which runs until Sunday (September 29) – is celebrating the register's milestone and raising awareness of the need for people to add their details, as well as discuss their wishes with family members.

Up to nine lives can be saved when a person donates their organs after death, and that figure is even higher when tissue is donated too.

Anthony Clarkson, for NHS Blood and Transplant, says: "Every day across the UK there are thousands of patients and their families waiting for that all important life-saving call to say an organ has become available. Yet this is often only possible as a result of another family receiving some of the hardest news they might ever have to hear. Donors are typically those who have died in a hospital intensive care unit or emergency department due to brain injuries, cardiac arrest or other trauma.

"A change in the law now means it’s assumed that when someone dies in circumstances where they could be a donor, that they agree to donate if they haven’t officially opted out. However, no one is automatically added to the organ donor register. You need to confirm your own decision, and your family will still be consulted before donation goes ahead and will be expected to support your decision.

"With 1,036 patients in the north-east and Yorkshire waiting for organ transplants, it’s more important than ever to register your organ donation decision and make it known to your family.

"Families are far more likely to support donation when they know it was what their relative wanted."

For further information, and to register your organ donation decision, visit organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23.