NHS BLOOD and Transplant is urging families in Dorset to have a heart-to-heart about organ donation this Valentine’s Day amid an 85 per cent increase in people waiting for heart transplants.

More than 300 people nationally, including more than 40 children are waiting for a heart transplant - with the waiting list rising by 85 per cent in the last decade.

Anthony Clarkson, director of organ and tissue donation and transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Thousands of people across the UK are waiting for the call that a donor has been found to save or transform their life, and hundreds of them need a heart transplant. We encourage everyone in Dorset to have that heart-to-heart now.

“Talk to your family and tell them your organ donation decision, leave them certain of it. And make sure you know what they would want too, so you can support their decision. This Valentine’s Day have a heart-to-heart and share your organ donation decision to help save more lives.”

READ MORE: Drop in GP appointments across Dorset in December

READ MORE: Planned: Walking and cycling bridges in Glenferness Avenue

For more information, or to register your organ donation decision, please visit: www.organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23. NHS app users can also use the service to record, check or update their organ donation decision.