Transplants overhaul will save 120 lives

Published on Saturday 12 January 2008 20:35

MORE than 100 lives a year will be saved in Scotland as a result of plans to boost by 50% the number of transplant operations.

Ministers will back moves this week to entirely overhaul the transplant system, with more bereaved families being urged to offer up their loved ones' organs to save the life of another. An extra 120 heart, kidney, liver and lung transplants could take place in Scotland every year under the new measures, helping the 600 Scots currently on the waiting list.

But plans to introduce a new law of presumed consent – where everyone would be deemed to have granted consent for the removal of their organs after death, unless they had specified otherwise – will not be announced, though are still being considered.

The long-awaited shake-up will be unveiled this week by Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon and UK Health Secretary Alan Johnston.

Britain has one of the highest family refusal rates in the EU, with 42% of relatives blocking organ removal, compared with 17% in Spain, 29% in Italy and 30% in France. Combined with the low numbers of those who have taken a donor card, it has ensured that the waiting list for transplants across the UK is at a record high.

Under the new plans, more special "transplant coordinators" will be recruited to the NHS who will attempt to encourage more families to back transplants. In addition, a new 24-hour organ retrieval unit will be set up to ensure speedy delivery to where organs are needed.

The new measures are expected to reduce the family refusal rate by at least 10%. It is thought that it will take five years before they can then be fully implemented across the NHS.

The problems surrounding Scotland's organ transplant worsened last month after the country's only heart transplant unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary halted all operations after a rise in the number of deaths following surgery.

Labour MSP Lord Foulkes, who has put forward a private members' bill at both the Scottish Parliament and the House of Lords to introduce a new law on presumed consent, said he welcomed the changes. He also praised the fact that SNP and Labour had worked together to introduce the reforms uniformly across the UK.

He said: "In this case it is encouraging to see the co-operation between all parts of the United Kingdom and it shows that progress can be made by that co-operation.

My own aim is to try and speed this process up and get as many of these changes, in particular presumed consent, as quickly as possible."

The moves have also raised hopes that the number of living kidney donors might increase.

Andy Williamson, of the Kidney Patients' Association, said: "These are necessary changes which I hope will make a big difference.

We need to improve public awareness about how safe it is to be a living donor now. I was given a kidney by a friend and I have become aware of how little people know so I hope there will be a big focus on that."

Meanwhile, Sturgeon urged people to get a donor card. She said: "The shortage of donor organs for transplantation is an increasing problem and we are determined to address this. I want everyone to seriously consider signing up to the register."

On the plans this week, she added: "Although the report does not deal with the issue of presumed consent, I want to repeat that I am sympathetic towards the idea of introducing a system of presumed consent and I welcome the fact that the task force is considering this approach."

Health chiefs in Scotland point out that as well as saving lives there are significant economic benefits to increasing the number of transplants.

For example, while a kidney transplant costs 45,900, it costs 25,300 a year to maintain kidney dialysis for a patient waiting for a transplant.