§ Mr. Rhodri MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many heart transplants were carried out in United Kingdom NHS hospitals on United Kingdom residents in the latest year for which figures are available; how many hospitals are approved for carrying out heart transplant operations; and when and by what means the last new heart transplant centre was approved. [5839]
§ Mr. Boateng278 heart-only transplants (out of a total of 437 cardiothoracic transplants, including heart, lung and heart/lung operations) were carried out, on United Kingdom residents in United Kingdom National Health Service hospitals, during 1996.
Eight hospitals in England are designated, by the National Specialist Commissioning Advisory Group, to carry out cardiothoracic transplant operations:
- Harefield Hospital NHS Trust, Middlesex (in conjunction with the Royal Brompton, London)
- Papworth Hospital NHS Trust, Cambridge
- Northern General Hospital NHS Trust, Sheffield
- South Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, London
- St. George's Healthcare Trust, London
- Freeman Group of Hospitals, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust.
Under the arrangements which apply in Scotland, Glasgow Royal Infirmary is approved to undertake heart transplants.
The last new heart transplant unit to be designated was the University Hospital, Birmingham, NHS Trust, with effect from April 1992. A bid from the unit was considered by the Supra Regional Services Advisory Group. After due consideration, the Advisory Group recommended to the then Secretary of State that the Unit should be included in the designation arrangements for cardiothoracic transplantation. In reaching this decision, availability of organs, geographical spread of transplant units and availability of suitable clinical expertise would have been taken into account.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for the past five years as a whole, the regions in which the heart transplant patients operated on in each of the United Kingdom approved NHS heart transplant centres resided. [5838]
§ Mr. BoatengThe information available is provided in the attached table. The table, taken from information in the Supra Regional Services Advisory Group Annual Reports, shows the number of finished consultant episodes for assessment and transplantation and therefore add up to a number significantly greater than the number of transplants carried out in the period.
655W
Region 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 North West 52 164 162 177 174 Others1 70 410 499 302 244 Total 401 3,023 4,010 1,550 1,693 1This includes residents of Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and overseas residents eligible for care under reciprocal health agreements. The following information shows the number of survivors of cardiothoracic transplantation, at Units in England, by Country and Region within the United Kingdom, as calculated in November 1996.
Country/Region Number of cardiothoracic transplant survivors as at November 1996 Northern and Yorkshire 347 Trent 239 Anglia and Oxford 251 North Thames 308 South Thames 298 South and West 241 West Midlands 206 North West 277 Wales 122 Scotland 111 Northern Ireland 41 Total 2,441