HC Deb 10 February 1989 vol 146 cc849-50W
Mr. Galbraith

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give for each of the last 10 years such information as he has of the total number of organ transplants in the United Kingdom and the number of overseas recipients.

Mr. Mellor

According to provisional information provided by the United Kingdom transplant service, the number of cadaveric transplants carried out within the NHS in the United Kingdom in 1988 was:

Number
Kidney 1,544
Heart and heart/lung 332
Liver 212
Pancreas 9
Lung 3

These figures will be subject to revision once final returns are received. Comparable figures for the years 1978–87 were given in my reply to the hon. Member for East Lothian (Mr. Home Robertson) on 22 December 1988 at columns 397–98.

The United Kingdom transplant service is currently unable to identify the number of overseas patients treated under reciprocal health agreements with other countries, but revised arrangements for collecting data to be introduced shortly should enable this information to be obtained in the future.

Ms. Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will specify for each of the last 10 years how many instances there were of cadaveric kidneys being transplanted into non-entitled patients.

Mr. Freeman

Comprehensive information is not available. In 1988, 35 transplant operations were performed in the private sector using cadaveric kidneys surplus to requirements in the United States and imported by arrangement with the United Network for organ sharing.

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