2013 a record year for organ transplants - kidney association

This year was a "record" one for organ transplants in the State which reached 293 , the Irish Kidney Association said today.

There were 18 more transplants this year than in the previous record year of 2011, according to end-of-year figures released by the association.

It said the highlight achievement for the year was the more than doubling in the number of lung transplants at the Mater Hospital from 14 in 2012 to 32 in 2013. This figure is more than the total number of transplants from 2009 to 2012.

There was also a record 38 living donors taking part in the kidney transplants at Beaumont Hospital, the association said. It also noted that 86 deceased donors saved the lives of 245 people, ten of whom received two organs.

Beaumont Hospital’s transplant team had record activity with 195 transplant operations and 38 living donor operations, the association said. There were 185 kidney operations at the hospital in 2013.

In addition there were 55 liver transplants at St. Vincent’s Hospital and 11 heart transplants at the Mater Hospital.

"Transplantation is a national team effort. The public are an essential element of the team with their generosity to donate organs," Mark Murphy, chief executive of the Irish Kidney Association said in a statement.

He said transplant teams from St Vincent’s Hospital, the Mater Hospital and Beaumont Hospital had achieved “outstanding results in very difficult times for the health service”.

The HSE’s service plan for 2014 planned more investment in management of organ donation giving “encouragement to the 550 people on transplant waiting lists (of which 480 are waiting for kidneys)”, he said.

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