The NHS has found that faulty software at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has led to wrong organs being removed from 25 NHS donors in the UK.

The error was discovered in February when donors, having received thank you letters from the NHS Blood and Transplant, replied saying that the details give were incorrect. The subsequent government-ordered review revealed that up to 800,000 people on the donor register may have had their preferences incorrectly recorded.

The author of the review, Sir Gordon Duff, has praised the NHS for its “sensitive” handling of the case. The report suggests that the long-term solution is to create a more secure and interactive system for donors, using better data verification and cross references functions.

“People who generously agree to donate their organs should be reassured that the error has been dealt with effectively and that steps have been taken to minimise the risk of it happening again”, says Sir Duff.

The NHS already has plans to increase the interactivity of its systems to allow patients to access their medical records. Such a change as Sir Duff recommends may fit nicely into the general system update of the department.