§ 29. Mr. Stodartasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many operations were carried out during 1969 in the transplant unit at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh.
§ Mr. Millan22 operations under general anaesthesia were carried out in the transplant unit at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, during 1969. Of these, eight involved organ transplantation, and in each case the organ concerned was the kidney.
§ Mr. StodartCan the hon. Gentleman say how many operations would be able to take place in a year if the unit were working to capacity? In other words, is it working anything like to capacity? If not, is there any intention to build another transplant unit anywhere in Scotland? If so, it would seem to be wasted money.
§ Mr. MillanI cannot say what the number might be if the unit were working to full capacity. However, because of the difficulties of obtaining donors and the higher standards of tissue matching now required for this operation, the unit is not working to full capacity at the moment. If we could overcome those details, undoubtedly the number of operations could be increased.