BOLTON has the second highest number of people dying while waiting for an organ transplant in Greater Manchester, new figures have revealed.

Health bosses have described the number of deaths in the past decade as 'tragic' and 'unnecessary'.

NHS Blood and Transplant has revealed that 44 people from Bolton have died while waiting for a transplant in the past 10 years.

The town also has the second highest number of people on the current waiting list – with 35 needing a organ transplant.

This only comes second to Manchester, where 80 people have died in the last decade and 62 people are currently on the list.

Robert Hodgkiss, from Bromley Cross, was put on the waiting list after being diagnosed with viral inflammatory disease in his heart in June, 1996 after suffering a heart attack and a mini-stroke.

He underwent transplant surgery at Freeman Hospital in Newcastle in July that year.

The palliative care physiotherapist at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust and father-of-two has gone on to become a gold medal winner in the World Transplant Games.

He said: "When I went for my transplant the figure was one in three survive and it is sad that it is still an issue.

"It may not seem like a lot of people in 10 years but they are all individuals, they all meant something to people and had a family. One death is too many.

"It is difficult for a number of reasons. Only a small amount of people donate, with only a small amount of people being able to.

"One of the big issues is if someone is on the register and is in the position to donate, the family can say no and the organs cannot be taken.

"Working in end of life care, you can see both sides and it can be a very emotional time for the family, but if people actively sign up and make a decision to donate there is the argument to change it so the family cannot overrule that decision."

The numbers have been revealed to mark the start of Organ Donation Week and a campaign has been launched to urge people to tell their families they want to become donors.

NHS Blood and Transplant argues that hundreds of life saving transplants are being missed every year because families do not know what their relative wanted.

In Manchester, there are currently 306 people waiting for a transplant, and 6,414 people nationally.

The region is also short of black and Asian donors with 101 black or Asian people currently waiting for a transplant.

Amy Preston, a specialist nurse in organ donation for the North West said: "What is tragic is these figures could potentially be reduced if the people who want to donate tell their families.

"It is families who need to know so when we approach them they are aware that this something their loved one wanted to do.

"We used to say one in three would die, this information is now really bringing home to people how those living in the region and our communities are affected. These are the people you go to school with, who you work with, who your children play with, and are waiting every day for that transplant."

In 2015 the NHS reported that nationally more than 6,000 people had died before receiving a transplant.

Anthony Clarkson, assistant director of organ donation and transplantation for NHS Blood and Transplant, adds: "It’s a tragedy that people are dying unnecessarily every year in Manchester waiting for transplants.

"We know that if everyone who supported donation talked about it and agreed to donate, most of those lives would be saved.

"In Manchester there are more than 863,000 people on the NHS Organ Donor Register. However if you want to be a donor, your family’s support is still needed for donation to go ahead."