NHS Blood and Transplant service figures show the number of people on the waiting list for a new heart has increased by 162 per cent since 2008 – a rise experts have put down to an ageing population and the increasing risk of heart disease. The figures cover the UK and include the Channel Islands.
The British Heart Foundation, as part of a new campaign to mark the 50th anniversary of the world’s first heart transplant, is encouraging potential donors to make their wishes known to their next of kin, saying while most people support it many families refuse donations because they are unsure of their loved one’s wishes.
That message has been echoed by Jersey consultant gynaecologist Neil Maclachlan, whose daughter Catherine was rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital aged 15 suffering from a serious heart condition. When she woke up a week later she had had a heart transplant.
‘As a parent of a 15 year old who was on the critical list for seven days and whose only chance of survival was a heart transplant I cannot stress the importance of talking to the family about what they would do if they needed a heart transplant and what they would do if they were in the situation at the end of their life when they could donate to help others live,’ said Mr Maclachlan, whose family set up the Love Hearts Appeal for Great Ormond Street in 2011 to raise money and awareness.
‘If people are prepared to accept organs to survive we would like to think they would be prepared to agree to donate; they are actually more likely to need an organ than to be able to donate.
‘If more people signed the organ donation register we would not have such a shortage and we would not have three people dying every day because of the lack of organs. The gift of life is a fantastic last act.’
Mr Maclachlan’s comments come after it was revealed last week in the Jersey Opinions and Lifestyle Survey that 52 per cent of Islanders thought that Jersey should introduce a system of presumed consent for organ donation. About 29 per cent were against the idea and 19 per cent said they were unsure.
Health Minister Andrew Green had said he was waiting for the results of that survey to inform his decision whether to press ahead with proposals for an opt-out system for organ donation, in which Islanders would have to choose to come off the donor register.
On 3 December 1967 South African cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard transplanted the heart of a woman who died following a car accident to a grocer suffering from heart disease. The recipient survived 18 days but later succumbed to pneumonia due to the immuno-suppressant drugs he was taking.
Today, such transplants are routine and around 200 are carried out every year. Catherine has gone on to live a full and healthy life, studying modern languages at Durham University and taking up a speech and language therapy placement at the Institute of Children’s Health, Great Ormond Street’s research partner. She has also organised and taken part in various fundraisers for the Love Hearts Appeal, including a London to Paris cycle ride.
Despite surveys showing eight in ten of all adults in England saying they support organ donation, last year the NHS asked 3,144 families to agree to it, but 1,172 of them declined.
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