Low level of transplants of increasing concern

Less than 100 organ transplants were carried out in the UK last month, representing the lowest number for 36 years.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) analysis for BBC 5 Live Investigates showed that there were 99 operations in April, down from 244 in March. The last time the monthly total dropped below 100 was February 1984. It has been suggested that the drop in numbers, alongside a fall in operations, could fuel a backlog of patients needing organ donations, which could ultimately lead to increased waiting times.

The new data shows that just 206 patients were added to the waiting list in April, down from 524 in March.

Furthermore, transplant centres have been infrequently used. On one date in April, only six of the 24 kidney transplant centres were open, although all liver, lung and heart units remained open.

John Forsythe, medical director for Organ Donation at NHSBT said: "We know this remains a very worrying time for anyone waiting for an organ transplant. We are now seeing more potential organ donors being referred and transplant centres are opening again or looking to put in place safeguards to allow an expansion of their service. We will work hard to support families and clinicians to facilitate organ donation where possible, enabling more of the thousands of people waiting to have their transplants."

Prof Peter Friend, director of the Oxford Transplant Centre, told the BBC Radio 5 Live Emma Barnett show: "Every transplant that does not take place now means that a patient somewhere, and at some point, never receives their transplant. This is an inevitable consequence of the fact that the supply of donor organs does not meet the demand. Even before the coronavirus epidemic, patients were dying on the transplant waiting list, and the effect of doing fewer transplants during the crisis means that this mortality rate must increase."