ORGAN donation hit a record high last year but in the UK three people still die each day because they cannot find a donor.

The time has come for England to introduce the so-called presumed consent system, in which people have to actively opt out if they do not wish to be donors.

Wales introduced the system in December 2015, and saw an immediate rise in the availability of organs to help seriously ill patients.

Last month, ministers at Holyrood announced plans for a “soft opt-out” scheme, whereby patients in Scotland are assumed to agree to donate useful organs after their death unless their families strongly object.

Opponents warned that type of scheme offers no guarantee that a deceased’s wishes are followed and places pressure on next of kin and medical teams. A straightforward presumed consent system would work better.

In England, we still have an opt-in system where organs can only be donated from someone who had consented during their lifetime.

Some 23.4 million people – 36 per cent of the population – are on the organ register, yet almost double that number say they would donate their organs after death, a British Medical Association survey showed. There is clearly a large number of us who just haven’t got around to filling in the form, or cannot bear the thought of confronting the prospect of our own mortality, even if doing so could extend the lives of others.

All of which fuels the argument for an automatic opt-in system. By adopting it up to 1,000 seriously ill people a year could be given the gift of life.