Britain's prime minister has called for an overhaul of the country's organ donation system to make it easier for doctors to remove body parts from deceased patients without prior consent.

Mr Brown, who carries a donor card, said he wanted to start a "genuine debate" on consent organ donation and that if changes were introduced the government would ensure strict safeguards were in place.

Gordon Brown noted in an opinion piece that more than a thousand people die in Britain each year waiting for organ transplants.

"Many of us will have friends and family members who have benefited from transplant surgery, or - tragically - who have endured the agonising wait for a life-saving organ that did not become available in time, Mr Brown wrote in The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

"That is an avoidable human tragedy we can and must address."

"A system of this kind seems to have the potential to close the aching gap between the potential benefits of transplant surgery in the UK and the limits imposed by our current system of consent," he said.

An "opt-out" system would presume consent unless potential donors explicitly registered their disapproval. That would make it easier for doctors to approach families with requests for donations, said Tony Calland, chairman of the British Medical Association's medical ethics committee.

Patients' rights groups skeptical

But watchdog group Patient Concern spokeswoman Joyce Robin said she was appalled by the possible overhaul of the current donation system and the government should do more to encourage people to register as donors.

"They call it presumed consent, but it is no consent at all," she told the newspaper.

"They are relying on inertia and ignorance to get the results they want."

More than 8,000 patients in Britain are currently waiting for an organ donation but only about 3,000 transplant operations go ahead each year.

Nearly 15 million people are listed on the nation's organ donation register.

Roxon: not for Australia

Meanwhile, speaking before a meeting of health ministers in Brisbane today, Health Minister Nicola Roxon ruled out such drastic action in Australia.

"I don't think we're anywhere near that sort of process here in Australia," Ms Roxon said.

"There are things we can do to make it easier for family members to make those sorts of decisions, but that's a long, long way from where we are in Australia."