§ Mr. Favellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the number of new cases per million population accepted for treatment for end stage renal failure in each of the regional health authorities for the latest year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. WhitneyAccording to information supplied by the European dialysis and transplant association registry, the numbers of new patients per million population accepted for treatment for end stage renal failure in 1984 and 1985 in each regional health authority are set out in the table; the figures for 1985 are provisional only:
1984 1985* Northern 40.6 45.2 Yorkshire 34.2 37.2 Trent 40.4 45.7 East Anglian 40.5 52.6 North-West Thames 30.6 40.0 North-East Thames 30.3 65.4 South-East Thames 47.5 57.8 South-West Thames 25.3 21.7 Wessex 27.9 24.6 Oxford 37.5 43.8 South-Western 32.6 42.6 West Midlands 26.3 37.3 Mersey 31.3 34.2 North-Western 31.5 42.5 England 33.8 42.4 * Provisional The wide variation in the figures will be partially accounted for by the movement of patients across regional boundaries. The provisional data for 1985 suggest that most regional health authorities have already exceeded their targets of at least 40 new renal patients per million population to be accepted for treatment by 1987 which were announced by my hon. Friend the Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Mr. Patten) in December 1984. These increases in the level of service provided for the treatment of end stage renal failure are very encouraging.
Data have also been received from the United Kingdom transplant service on the numbers of cadaveric transplant operations performed in the United Kingdom during the six months January to June 1986, which were as follows:
Number Percentage increase on previous six months Kidneys 797 24 Hearts 103 6 (including heart/lung) Livers 56 27 These figures are also very encouraging; in all cases they are the highest ever half-yearly totals.
209WThe Health Service staff whose efforts enabled these increases to be achieved are to be congratulated. However further increases are still needed. Over 3,000 people are still waiting for a kidney transplant, and only if more donors become available can more transplant operations be performed and the waiting list reduced.