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The practice of organ donation should be changed to ensure that relatives cannot over-ride the wishes of individuals who have elected to become donors before their death, the head of a Government taskforce said.

The number of deceased donors reached 1,212 in 2012/13, and their organs transformed the lives of 3,100 recipients, according to NHS Blood and Transplant. "The progress made has been phenomenal," said Elizabeth Buggins, chair of the UK Organ Donation Taskforce.

But 125 families over-ruled the wishes of their relatives in 2011-12 and refused to allow the donation, despite their names appearing on the NHS Organ Donor register.

Ms Buggins said that it should be mandatory on doctors to refer a potential donor to the NHS Transplant service if their name appeared on the NHS Organ Donor register, the list of individuals who have volunteered to donate their organs after death.

While the law does not give relatives the power to prevent a donation, in practice doctors are reluctant to press the issue in the face of a grieving family who are opposed.

Ms Buggins was speaking as NHS Blood and Transplant announced that it had achieved a 50 per cent increase in deceased organ donors, matching the target set by the task force in 2008.

Ms Buggins said the need for organs continued to outstrip the supply. "People are still suffering and dying waiting for a transplant. Organ donation has yet to become a routine and accepted part of UK society."

The proposed change in the handling of relatives opposed to donation is among 40 recommendations aimed at boosting the supply of organs, including changes to the hospital tariff to "reward best practice" and the withholding of merit awards from consultants who fail to refer potential organ donors.

Ms Buggins said: "Health professionals are very reluctant to do anything that upsets people, particularly when there is a bereavement. They have always supported the family to make the decision that is right for them but they have not done enough to honour the wishes of the person who has died. "

She said that during focus groups held by the task force round the country, members of the public had expressed outrage at the idea that relatives could over-ride the wishes of individuals when they were not in a position to insist.

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Relatives 'should not have the last word on organ donation'