HTA approves landmark 3,000th living donation

The Human Tissue Authority has approved 3,000 living organ donations.

Issue date: 22 December 2009

Shirley Harrison, Chair of the HTA, said: "Just three years after the HTA began regulating living organ donation, it is remarkable that so many donors have come forward. This is heartening news at a time traditionally associated with giving and goodwill. The number of living donors is rising all the time. Now, one in three of all kidney transplants come from living people. This reflects the confidence patients, medical professionals and the public have in the HTA.

"The Authority has created a clear system for approval of donations from living donors, which gives everyone involved the reassurance that donors' interests are protected. I am grateful to the Independent Assessors (IA) who interview potential donors and recipients on the Authority's behalf, and to my colleagues who carefully scrutinise the IA reports as part of the approvals process.

 "Living donation is a truly extraordinary act. I would like to pay tribute to the generosity and altruism of all living organ donors who, despite the risks involved, have chosen to donate an organ."

Alongside this announcement NHS Blood and Transplant have launched an awards scheme to recognise the generosity of living donors.

James Neuberger, Associate Medical Director of the Organ Donation and Transplantation Directorate for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Living transplants are highly successful and have been steadily increasing in number over the past 10 years.

“The awards scheme that we are launching today is a way of saying a very big thank you to donors.

“Living organ donors help to transform not just the life of the recipient but often of those around them who’ve cared for them during their illness. Their gift means people can give up dialysis and other costly treatments so they are also freeing up NHS resources for others in need.”

ENDS

For more information, or for someone to interview, please contact Fiona McKinson on 020 7211 3460 or email Fiona.mckinson@hta.gov.uk. Should you require a living donor case study, we may be able to source one for you, so please get in touch.

Notes to editors

1. The HTA is responsible for approving all transplants involving living people following an independent assessment process. This ensures that the donor and recipient fully understand what is involved in giving and receiving an organ and that the risks have been properly explained and understood. The HTA must be satisfied that the donor is not under any pressure to donate, has given their consent freely and voluntarily and that no payment is involved.
2. The Human Tissue Act 2004 established the HTA which provided the framework to regulate new forms of living organ donation namely:

Paired and pooled donation: a donor and recipient whose blood groups or tissue types are incompatible can be paired with another donor and recipient in the same situation. This is a ‘paired donation’. Sometimes, more than two donors and two recipients will be involved in the swap (called ‘pooled donation’); and, if all goes to plan, each recipient will benefit from a transplant that they would otherwise not have had.

Non-directed altruistic donation: where a living person who has never met the potential recipient may be considered to become a donor.

Breakdown of living donation approvals

Because of the time lag between approval and the transplant operation itself, the total number of transplants that went ahead differs from approval numbers. For example, in 2008-09 the number of transplant operations involving living kidney donors was 927 whereas the number of approvals by the HTA was 1,023.

3.   The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) is a watchdog that supports public confidence by licensing organisations that store and use human tissue for purposes such as research, patient treatment, post-mortem examination, teaching, and public exhibitions. We also give approval for organ and bone marrow donations from living people.

4.   The HTA leaflet ‘Information about living donor-transplants' gives more information about the role of the HTA in approving organ donations from living people. The leaflet is available from our website.

5.   In December 2006, The UK Government set up the Organ Donation Taskforce to identify barriers to organ donation and recommend actions needed to increase organ donation and procurement within the current legal framework. Its most recent Annual Report can be found on the Department of Health website.

6. NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is a Special Health Authority in the NHS. It is the organ donor organisation for the UK and is responsible for matching and allocating donated organs. Its remit also includes the provision of a reliable, efficient supply of blood and associated services to the NHS.

7. Magdi Shehata, a renal transplant surgeon at Nottingham University Hospital, commissioned the design and production of a pin to be given to living transplant donors, in recognition of their generosity in donating one of their organs to someone in need of a transplant. The scheme was launched in Nottingham in 2007 and was very successful. The pin is silver, approx 2cm in diameter, and is made up of two symbols, an anchor, which represents hope and the Ankh which is an ancient Egyptian symbol for life or the zest for life.  It is sent out in a small blue presentation box.

8. The living donor pin scheme has now been adopted by NHSBT and has been rolled out nationally to include all living donors.  The pin is sent with a letter of thanks from Lynda Hamlyn, Chief Executive NHSBT.  Donors do have the option to opt out if they do not wish to receive a pin.