A SPECIALIST nurse says there "are simply not enough" organs being donated after figures revealed people in the town have died during the last two years while on the waiting list for transplants.

According to a Freedom of Information request made to the NHS Blood and Transplant special health authority, 29 patients in the borough are currently in need of new organs.

Of these 19 are on the active waiting list, while a further 10 have been temporarily removed for reasons such as being too ill to undergo the operation or going away on holiday.

Out of those actively waiting, five have been doing so for more than two years.

And for the two successive years, people in St Helens have died while still on the list. There were no deaths in 2012/13 or 2013/14.

In response to the statistics, Andrew Mawson, specialist nurse for organ donation with NHS Blood and Transplant at Whiston Hospital, said: "We know families are much more likely to support a relative’s decision to donate at a time of grief if they know that is what their relative wanted.

"The truth is that there are simply not enough organs available. One organ donor can transform the lives of up to nine people.

"To save more lives through organ donation we need it to be a subject that we all talk about, in everyday conversation. We need more people to join the NHS Organ Donor Register and to tell their families they want to be an organ donor."

Figures also indicated a drop in the number of organ donors in the town over the past year.

In 2015/16 seven people donated a total of 13 organs, with less than five of those living donors.

This was down on the previous year when 10 donated 17 organs although 2014/15, although that number was significantly higher than in previous years.

Andrew added: "People waiting for transplants depend on people being willing to donate their organs and sadly on average three people die every day across the UK due to a shortage of donated organs.

"It is vital people of all ages, backgrounds and ethnicities agree to organ donation and discuss it with their families. That way, should the time come your family will know you want to donate your organs."

To join the NHS Organ Donor Register, visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23.