Approximately 7,000 waiting for lifesaving transplants

The number of those likely waiting for a transplant in the UK is now around 7,000, with the coronavirus pandemic leading to unprecedented challenges for transplantation in the UK.

A report from NHS Blood and Transplant says that 3,391 people in the UK had their lives saved thanks to the generosity of 1,180 people donating their organs after death, despite the strains that coronavirus put on the NHS over the last year.

The paper shows that despite the global pandemic, levels were sustained at 75 per cent of normal deceased donation activity and around 80 per cent of normal transplant activity.

The number of patients registered on the active waiting list for a transplant in the UK fell to 4,256 at the end of March 2021, however, this does not fully reflect the number of people who need an organ transplant. Many patients were removed from the transplant list or transplant programmes closed during the peak of the pandemic as it was riskier to carry out transplants and NHS resources were under extra pressure.

Transplant centres are still getting through the backlog of new patient referrals and are currently re-activating those who were temporarily suspended back on to the waiting list, and it is currently forecast that the number of those likely waiting for a transplant in the UK is now around 7,000 – a figure last seen in 2012/13.

The number of families giving consent/authorisation for organ donation to go ahead has risen this year, from 68 per cent to 69 per cent overall for donation across the UK.

John Forsythe, medical director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation at NHSBT, said: “This past year has been completely unprecedented in the history of the NHS, as well as in our wider society. So, the fact that we managed to maintain three quarters of our normal donation and transplantation activity is absolutely phenomenal. There’s no escaping the fact that organ donation and transplantation will take some time to recover completely, as will the rest of the NHS.

“But with a great team effort across clinical teams, deceased organ donation and transplant activity continued for the most urgent patients during the first wave of Covid-19 and returned to pre-Covid levels quite rapidly, with July and August being record summer months for donation and transplantation. In later surges the teams managed to keep the majority of these vital procedures going.

“Each one of us in the wider clinical team of donation and transplant, across the UK, are immensely proud of the work to keep organ donation and transplants happening in the most challenging circumstances. But our commitment is nothing compared with donors and their families – the gift of life has been donated in the midst of a tragedy made even more difficult by Covid restrictions. However incredible this achievement, we mustn’t forget that there are still thousands of people in need of lifesaving organ transplants and we are doing our utmost to work with clinical teams and donor families to try and close the gap between those receiving a transplant and those still waiting.”