Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the conclusions of the report entitled Transplant care in the UK: a patient perspective, published by Kidney Care UK in July 2024, if he will take steps to ensure that eligible kidney disease patients facing kidney failure are pre-emptively placed on transplant waiting lists before undergoing dialysis.

NHS England’s Service Specification for Renal Transplantation identifies transplant as the optimal treatment option for patients with stage five chronic kidney disease (CKD 5) and mandates that all commissioned providers should assess the benefits and risks of transplantation with patients, six months ahead of commencing dialysis treatment.

In 2022, NHS England’s Renal Services Transformation Programme produced a toolkit to support renal providers across England to transform care for patients with kidney disease. This includes principles around improving transplantation services and increasing pre-emptive transplantation rates for patients. The toolkit also includes a self-assessment questionnaire, with four key principles, to support renal providers to improve transplantation services for patients with CKD 5. Providers in England are supported by the NHS England commissioned Renal Clinical Networks to improve patient care, with all networks having identified transplantation improvement workstreams and clinical leads.

The Department, NHS Blood and Transplant, and NHS England are working together to improve utilisation of all solid organs following recommendations from the Organ Utilisation Group 2023 report. This includes equity of access to transplant for all patients across the country.