§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the annual cost of liver transplantation in the national health service.
§ Mr. SackvilleIn the year ending 31 March 1992 expenditure on liver transplantation and associated follow-up services amounted to £13.7 million.
§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the provision for liver transplantation in the national health service; and what information she has on the number of patients waiting for, and in the convalescent period after, such transplants and the estimated distances such patients have to travel for treatment.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe number of liver transplants performed in the United Kingdom rose from 21 in 1982 to 419 in 1991. A total of 64 patients were reported to be awaiting liver transplants at 30 April 1992. There are no figures held centrally on the numbers of people in convalescence following liver transplants.
Information on the distances patients have to travel for transplant treatment is not collected centrally. There are 480W six designated centres where liver transplants are performed. Two of the hospitals are in London; the others are in Cambridge, Birmingham, Leeds and Newcastle. The provision of designated liver transplant centres is kept under constant review.