Foreign patient transplant probe

There are 8,000 people on the transplant register

Ministers have ordered an inquiry into NHS organ transplant arrangements for EU residents.

It is thought nearly 800 transplants have been carried out by the NHS on non-UK patients over the past decade.

This has prompted a row over whether transplant centres were right to grant these procedures.

The review will be headed by Elisabeth Buggins, who last year led the Organ Donation Taskforce into the issue of presumed consent.

The aim of the review is to clarify the situation over the rights of EU citizens to get NHS transplants.

Figures released in January showed that 795 organ and tissue transplants were performed on non-UK patients over the past 10 years.

Patients will be pleased that the Government finally seems to be waking up to the scale of the problem, but ministers have known that this has been happening for 10 years Stephen O'Brien, shadow health minister

They included 674 liver, 47 kidney and 57 cornea operations.

However, over this period a total of 140 organs were imported into the UK for transplant and there are thought to be a number of UK residents who have gone abroad for treatment although the exact figures are not known.

European law requires that NHS hospitals give EU patients the same access to services as UK patients.

But it is unclear how exactly that relates to transplants.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson said: "We are aware that some people resident in other countries within the European Union needing transplants are being referred to the UK.

"This had led to accusations of priority being given to non-UK patients.

"We want to optimise the availability of organs for transplant for NHS patients and ensure public confidence in the fairness and transparency of the organ allocation system in the UK."

Ms Buggins said it was a "complex and sensitive area".

"It is important to be able to build the confidence of the public in the integrity of the systems that determine how precious donated organs are allocated to individual patients, and to provide clear guidance to the transplant community."

Bill Fullagar, chairman of NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "We very much welcome this review and the scrutiny which it will bring to bear on an issue which continues to cause public concern."

About 8,000 people are waiting on the transplant register at any one time - with three people dying each day.

Shadow health minister Stephen O'Brien said people have been "very worried" about the issue.

"Patients will be pleased that the government finally seems to be waking up to the scale of the problem, but ministers have known that this has been happening for 10 years."

A spokeswoman for the Patients Association said: "We have had a lot of calls to our helpline about it. People are concerned that non-UK people are getting transplants ahead of them."

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, head of science and ethics at the British Medical Association, said: "The BMA is supportive of moves to increase the public's confidence in the way organs for transplantation are allocated in the UK.

"We firmly believe that organ donation should take place, above all, on the basis of clinical need."

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