Overview

• Applicants now receive an automated email after completing a driving licence application that includes a link to register as a blood donor and a brief life-saving message.
• DVLA chief executive Tim Moss said the agency’s millions of annual applications make it uniquely placed to reach first-time drivers and help increase donations.
• NHS Blood and Transplant is focusing on younger people because more than half of regular donors are over 45, with registration allowed from 16 and donation from 17.
• The approach builds on the licence application’s long-standing organ donor prompt, which NHSBT estimates accounts for roughly 70% of sign-ups to the organ donor register.
• Seventeen-year-old patient Maisie Marsh, who depends on regular transfusions for a rare blood disorder, welcomed the prompt as a simple way to reach potential new donors.