Donations Greatly Received

In the news yesterday, it was reported that the Chief Medical Officer wants everyone to automatically become an organ donor, by default.
In other words, when we die, if we have any suitable organs, they will be removed (and re-used) regardless.
It will be up to us to Opt Out of this scheme which, in itself, presents a number of questions.

1. How easy would it be to opt out?
2. How much would this option be advertised?
3. What happens if we die before we have opted out?

What would happen if the person had opted out, but the hospital made a mistake and harvested the organs. Who would be responsible? Where are the checks?

There's also the religious aspect. There are many religions who don't agree with organ donation; we should leave this earth as we arrived. How would they be assured that their views and beliefs weren't ignored? Or, would they have to Opt Out as well?

I appreciate that donors are in short supply. However, maybe access to Donor Cards could be made more widely available. Perhaps, instead of free CDs and DVDs, our daily newspapers could distribute these cards to the masses. I am sure the take up would be much greater than just having them in doctors surgeries and hospitals.

Quite frankly, this scares me. The government should concentrate more on getting people to opt in, and continue with getting the NHS back on track.

There - said it.

It's A Boy

Fantastic news. At 12:48am, nephew number 4 made his appearance in the world. Last night I alluded to the fact that my wife wanted to attend the birth. Well, she didn't get the the opportunity, since, apparently, events happened a lot faster than expected.

So fast in fact, that the baby was born within an hour of them arriving at the hospital. And not only that, less than 30 minutes later they were on the phone to tell us the news.

I was prepared. I had moved the phone closer to the bed, so I didn't have to fumble across the bedside table for it. I reckon I answered it within 2 rings. Not bad for someone who was fast asleep at the time.

So, he's here, and I can't wait to meet him.