TO have the job of telling someone their loved one is going to die is something very few of us could bear.

But to then be tasked with asking families if that person had ever spoken about donating their organs makes it one of the hardest careers imaginable.

Rory Collier, a 37-year-old specialist nurse at the John Radcliffe Hospital, says the most difficult part of the organ donation process is broaching the topic with families who had never considered it before.

He said: "Quite often I'll have bereaved families in front of me who are going through an incredibly traumatic process and they have never thought about the fact that one day they're going to die and that one day their loved ones will too.

"This means they've never given a passing thought to organ donation."

Mr Collier is responsible for caring for families from the moment a patient dies or becomes brain dead, and continues his care regardless of whether a family agree to organ donation.

He said: "Death is the only thing you can be sure of in life. It's an inevitability, and it's something we must be making a concious effort to actually talk about because otherwise it can lead to the blocking of organ donation by bereaved families.

"I wholeheartedly respect the decision any bereaved family makes but I think that sometimes the conversations about organ donation might be a bit easier on all parties if people spoke about it in the here and now."

Bereaved families across the UK have blocked the donation of organs from 547 UK registered donors since 2010, which is about one in seven cases.

The blocked donors would have provided organs for 1,200 patients, which is almost a fifth of the people currently waiting for transplants in the UK.

NHS Blood and Transplant says it is now debating the idea of no longer seeking the consent of families formally and instead following the wishes of the deceased.

It hopes this would lead to a nine per cent rise in donors.

Mr Collier, a married father-of-two, who lives in Radley, says he believes one of the main reasons a family may reject the idea of organ donation is a lack of understanding on the issue.

He said: "There are quite a lot of people who think that the surgery involved in organ donation is some form of butchery but I always assure them that it isn't and that the patient will look just as they always have afterwards,

"I also frequently have Muslim families who are worried that their loved one won't be able to be buried within 24 hours but, again, it is of course possible.

"Religious and spiritual requests are always taken into account and should never deter a family from agreeing to donate their loved one's organs."

Mr Collier thought the best way to prevent the blocking of organ donation and to make the process easier for anyone involved was to start talking about it right now.

He said: "Go home and ask your family what their wishes are because then, God forbid, the time ever comes, you'll be prepared and you can carry their final wishes out and ultimately, save someone's life."

If you would like to sign the register visit: organdonation.nhs.uk/register-to-donate/