A Norfolk hospital has ranked as one of the top 20 in the country for organ donations as nationally donations fell by a quarter.

Last year, 19 deceased organ donors at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital made donations to help save or improve the lives of people in need in the UK.

The lead for organ donation at the hospital has urged people to talk to their families about their choice, following the change in the law last May.

There were 1,180 donations according to NHS Blood and Transplant's annual activity report, a decrease of 25pc from the year before due to the pandemic but these donations helped 3,391 transplant recipients.

Dr Tim Leary, chief of surgery at NNUH and regional clinical lead for organ donation, said: “We need more people in the Norfolk area to talk about organ donation to increase the number of lifesaving transplants.

“While most people agree that it is important to talk to their family about organ donation, it is less likely that they will have actually had this important conversation.

"Please tell your family that you want to support donation. Letting your family know that you want to save lives will make it much easier if there comes a time when organ donation is a possibility.”

As of the end of March more than 4,256 patients were waiting for a transplant, with a further 5,307 temporarily suspended from transplant lists.

There were 474 people who died while waiting for a transplant and 693 people removed from the list as a result of deteriorating health and ineligibility for a donation.

The report found more than two-thirds of families gave consent when asked about organ donation at 69pc.

NHS Blood and Transport also found the number of living donors fell by 58pc to 444, accounting for 27pc of the total number of organ donors.

John Forsythe, medical director of organ and tissue donation and transplantation, at NHS Blood and Transplant, said it was absolutely phenomenal to maintain three quarters of normal activity during the pandemic but the service would some time to recover.

To find out more about registering your decision, visit NHS Organ Donor Register at www.organdonation.nhs.uk.