Organ Donation

Transplantation milestones

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.

2007

July – UK's first living donor paired kidney transplants and first altruistic non-directed living donor transplant.

2008

January – The Organ Donation Taskforce report was published containing 14 recommendations for increasing the UK’s rate of organ donation by 50% within five years, resulting in an additional 1,200 transplants a year.
November - The Organ Donation Taskforce’s report into the issue of presumed consent, recommends against adoption of an opt out system.

* Earliest recorded by UK Transplant

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