Organ Donation

In the UK between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009:

• 3,513 organ transplants were carried out, thanks to the generosity of 1,853 donors.
• 977 lives were saved in the UK through a heart, lung, liver or combined heart/lungs, liver/kidney, liver/pancreas, heart/kidney or liver/kidney/pancreas transplant.
• A total of 2,536 patients received a kidney, pancreas or combined kidney/pancreas transplant.
• A further 2,711 people had their sight restored through a cornea transplant.
• A record number of donors were living donors, 954 people donated a kidney or a segment of their liver or lung, representing more than half of all donors.
• The highest number of non-heartbeating donor transplants took place- 579 transplants, a 35% increase on 2007-2008.
• Living donor kidney transplants are increasing - 589 in 2005-2006, 690 in 2006-2007, 831 in 2007-2008 and 927 in 2008-2009 and now represent more than one in three of all kidney transplants.
• At the end of March 2009, 7,877 patients were listed as actively waiting for a transplant.
• Almost a million more people pledged to help others after their death by registering their wishes on the NHS Organ Donor Register, bringing the total at 31 March 2009 to 16,124,871.