1902 Alexis Carrel demonstrates method of joining blood vessels to make organ transplant feasible
1905 First reported cornea transplant takes place Olmutz, Moravia (now Czech Republic) in December 1905
1918 Blood transfusion becomes established
1948 Foundation of the National Health Service
1954 First successful kidney transplant operation performed in Boston, USA
1960 First UK living donor kidney transplant, performed at Edinburgh
1963 First liver transplant in Denver, USA
1965 First kidney transplant in UK using organ from a dead person*
1967 First heart transplant operation performed by Dr Christiaan Barnard in South Africa
1968 First heart transplant in UK
1968 First UK liver transplant, performed at Addenbrooke's, Cambridge
1968 National Tissue Typing and Reference Laboratory (NTTRL) established at Southmead Hospital, Bristol
1971 Kidney donor card introduced in the UK
1972 National Organ Matching and Distribution Service (NOMDS) founded in Bristol
1979 NTTRL and NOMDS merge to become UK Transplant Service
1979 UK heart transplant programme begins
1980s First transplant co-ordinators appointed
1981 UK kidney donor card changed to multi-organ card including kidneys, corneas, heart, liver, and pancreas
1983 UK liver transplant programme begins
1983 Launch of the UK Cornea Transplant Service (CTS)
1983 First combined heart and lung transplant in the UK
1985 Lungs added to the UK donor card
1986 First lung-only transplant in the UK
1986 Establishment of the Bristol Eye Bank
1987 First "domino" UK heart transplant, where a patient receiving a heart and lungs transplant donates their healthy heart to another
1989 Establishment of the Manchester Eye Bank
1991 UK Transplant Service becomes special health authority and is renamed United Kingdom Transplant Support Service Authority (UKTSSA)
1993 UKTSSA moves to purpose-built accommodation at Stoke Gifford, Bristol
1994 NHS Organ Donor Register established
1994 First living donor liver transplant in UK
1995 First living donor lung lobe transplant in UK
2000 UK Transplant takes over from UKTSSA with new, extended remit
2001 First lung transplant from a non-heartbeating donor
2005 UK Transplant merges with National Blood Service to form NHS Blood & Transplant
2005 First partial face transplant carried out in France on 27 November
2006 Introduction of the Human Tissue Acts 2004 in England Wales and Northern Ireland, and the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006.
* Earliest recorded by UK Transplant
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