Organ and tissue donation makes specific demands of the next-of-kin at a time when they are emotionally and cognitively ill equipped to respond. This three-year, longitudinal study sought to clarify the needs of families throughout their decision-making and bereavement, to provide a rationale for further preparation of professionals involved in this sensitive work and guidance to the voluntary organisations that seek to support them. Face-toface interviews and two, self-completed, psychometric measures were used to elicit the bereavement experiences of 46 family members who chose to donate their deceased relatives’ organs and three who declined donation. Participants who chose to donate were interviewed on three occasions at 3 - 5, 13 - 15 and 18 - 26 months post bereavement. Single interviews were carried out with participants who declined donation. This presentation will explore the immediate, hospital bereavement needs of families. Findings indicated that participants’ bereavement needs during the hospital stay included: the need for correct, timely information, the need for contact with the deceased, the need to understand the diagnosis of death certified by brainstem testing, the need to have their special role as next-of-kin recognised, the need for healthcare professionals, from all areas, to understand their ‘emotional turmoil’ at this time. Information given to participants about the critical injury sustained by their loved one had a lasting positive impact if it was correct, given in complementary ways and was responsive to individual needs.What the participants saw, heard and experienced remained with them and was still available for discussion two years post bereavement.