§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many National Health Service patients have received transplants of kidneys imported from the United States of America; and at what costs these were supplied.
§ Mr. John Patten[pursuant to his reply, 20 November 1984, c. 127]: The United Kingdom Transplant Service has been notified of four NHS patients during 1983 and four so far during 1984 who received a kidney imported from the United States of America. Any cost of supplying the kidney would only be to cover transport and the procurement costs incurred by the American hospital which provided it, since payment to the relatives or estate of a donor is contrary to a Council of Europe resolution to which this country is a signatory. The costs would be a matter for the health authority concerned; details are not recorded either by the Department or the United Kingdom Transplant Service.
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what new initiatives he has to encourage more United Kingdom citizens to become kidney donors.
§ Mr. John Patten[pursuant to his reply, 20 November 1984, c. 127]: The Government continue to support local initiatives to increase organ donation and to promote the donor card scheme. We will be evaluating the impact of the first year of the present national publicity campaign next March, and will decide at that point whether any major central initiatives are needed to maintain the campaign's momentum. The number of kidney transplants performed in the United Kingdom during the first 10 months of this year was 1,264, compared with 1,160 for the whole of 1983.