Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of the level of covid-19 hospitalisations on NHS transplant services as of 26 January 2022.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

NHS England and Improvement and NHS Blood and Transplant regularly assess the impact of COVID-19 hospitalisations on NHS transplant services and are working with transplant units to restore transplantation services to pre-pandemic levels.

Whilst specific data for 26 January 2022 is not available, as of 23 January 2022, deceased donation represents 86% of pre-pandemic levels and living donation has since resumed to delivering quarterly matching runs through the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme. NHS Blood and Transplant and NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to work with transplant units to optimise the uptake of every organ that becomes available.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that scheduled donor transplants go ahead during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

NHS England and NHS Improvement have published guidance for local systems to support the restoration and recovery of solid organ transplants. Its regional teams have developed recovery plans, which include streamlined pathways for the provision of solid organ transplantation and the associated critical care capacity. NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to work with NHS Blood and Transplant and transplant units to optimise activity.

NHS Blood and Transplant data for 2021/22 shows 91% of normal deceased donation activity, which is an increase of 19% on the previous year. Ninety seven transplants were performed during week commencing 18 October 2021, which is the highest number since the start of the pandemic.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the additional risks posed by covid-19 to people in receipt of a solid organ transplant.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England and NHS Improvement, NHS Blood and Transplant and transplant centres are carefully managing organ donation and transplant services. Transplants will only take place if it is safe and appropriate to do so, with transplant clinicians assessing individual cases in the current situation. As transplant patients are immunosuppressed, any risks must be minimised. Potential organ donors are tested for COVID-19 and if positive, they are not able to donate. Potential recipients are also tested when they are admitted for a possible transplant.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of an increase in covid-19 infections and hospitalisations over summer 2021 on the ability of patients who require a transplant to receive one.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England and NHS Improvement and NHS Blood and Transplant are working closely with transplant units to optimise organ utilisation, including facilitating a patient’s move to an alternative unit where possible. NHS England and NHS Improvement have published guidance to local systems to support the restoration and recovery of solid organ transplants and regional teams have developed recovery plans. This includes streamlined pathways for the provision of solid organ transplantation and the associated critical care capacity, informed by different COVID-19 scenarios.