**There will be an independent review of a NHS blunder after at least 21 organs were wrongly removed from dead donors, ministers say.**Up to 800,000 people on the UK donor register may have had their wishes about the use of organs for transplant wrongly recorded.
Health Secretary Andy Burnham said he regretted the error but it should not stop people from donating.
The British Medical Association warned public confidence could be damaged.
And the pressure group Patients Concern described the blunder as “horrific”.
Mr Burnham said a new system had been put into place to prevent the error from happening again. NHS Blood and Transplant said it was urgently investigating.
Accidental deletion.
While many donors give consent for all their organs to be used for transplant after their death, some withhold consent for certain organs - such as their eyes.
However the details of many donors’ preferences were accidentally deleted in 1999.
The blunder came to light in 2009 when NHS Blood and Transplant wrote to donors, reiterating what they had agreed to donate.
But many wrote back saying the information was incorrect.
Mr Burnham told the BBC a review would be commissioned into how the data was lost.
He said: “We do need to get to the bottom of it. It would appear to relate to a technical error going back to 1999 and this was how data was transferred between the DVLA and the blood and transfer service. That has now been corrected,” he said.
Confidence
"There are some 21 cases that have been identified where a donation have taken place and incorrect information has been used about preferences.
“But, I must add as well, that that was in consultation in the individual’s family in and the donor was on the register at their wish.”
Mr Burnham said the 800,000 potentially affected records would not be used for any donations and steps had been taken to contact the families of those involved.
He said: “If people don’t hear from the service, they can be confident there are records are correct.”
Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association told the BBC: "You want people to come forward and donate their organs in good faith so that people who have serious conditions can have their lives saved.
“If we are going to have these sort of problems, it does erode the public confidence in that and that’s very concerning.”
He said the review was needed in order to prevent patients’ lives from being put at risk in the long-term.
Joyce Robins of pressure group Patient Concern told the Sunday Telegraph: “This government has got an absolutely dreadful record when it comes to data, but it is horrific that such sensitive details were handled in such a careless way.”
NHS Blood and Transplant has since corrected 400,000 flawed records - but hundreds of thousands of people are now being being contacted to confirm which organs may be taken.
Until consent is given from those affected, no organs will be removed.
It is against the law to take organs from the dead without their prior consent, or that of their family after death.
A spokeswoman for NHS Blood and Transplant said: "We are aware of issues with the records with a small proportion of the people who signed up to the NHS organ donor register.
"We are taking it very seriously and are urgently investigating the situation.
“Our priority is in ensuring that the families of those who may have been affected are contacted.”
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb described the data error as “a shocking revelation”
He said: "There needs to be a full inquiry into establish what on earth has happened.
"People have to have absolute confidence that their wishes will be respected.
“The Lib Dems would introduce a system of presumed consent because we want to see more organs available for transplant. But whatever system you have, we have to respect peoples’ wishes about the use of their organs.”
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