Statistics about organ donation

The following statistical information about Organ Donation in the UK is taken from NHSBT's website.

In the UK between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2011:

•     3,740 organ transplants were carried out, thanks to the generosity of 2,055 donors.
•     1,008 lives were saved in the UK through a heart, lung, liver or combined heart/lungs, liver/kidney, liver/pancreas or heart/kidney transplant.
•     2,732 patients' lives were dramatically improved by a kidney or pancreas transplant, 156 of whom received a combined kidney/pancreas transplant.
•     A further 3,564 people had their sight restored through a cornea transplant.
•     A record number of 567 non-heartbeating donor kidney transplants took place and accounted for one in five of all kidney transplants.
•     1,045 living donor kidney transplants were carried out accounting for more than a third of all kidney transplants. 'Non-directed' living donor transplants (also known as altruistic donor transplants) and paired and pooled donations contributed more than 60 kidney transplants between them.
•     Almost 675,000 more people pledged to help others after their death by registering their wishes on the NHS Organ Donor Register, bringing the total to 17,751,795 (March 2011).

Last updated August 2011

To see a weekly update of statistics, please visit the NHS Organ Donation website. We find this fascinating to see fairly real time statistics on organ donation.