Transplant surgery - the waiting game

I am delighted to introduce you to the first of a series of specialist briefings designed to keep you in touch with the hospital’s work and to hear the stories of some our very special patients, like James and Alice, featured below. These briefings will discuss topics that are particularly important to the cardio-thoracic unit, such as heart transplant surgery, as well as exploring more general issues that affect children at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Professor Martin Elliott MD FRCS,
Professor of cardio-thoracic surgery and
chairman of Cardiac Services

Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world’s leading centres for children’s heart and lung transplants. Since 1988, when our transplant programme began, 387 children have been given the chance of life thanks to the skills of specialist cardiac surgeons and the transplant team.

But what do you do when there aren’t enough donor organs to go round? Difficult decisions have to be made.

With a government taskforce looking at the idea of ‘presumed consent’ - where everybody is viewed as a potential donor unless they have ‘opted out’ before death - members of the hospital transplant team debate the pros and cons of this approach.

In this briefing, the families of James and Alice share their experience
of having a child awaiting a transplant.

Download the cardiac specialist briefing

Useful documents

Cardiac Specialist Briefing

Useful links

Tick Tock Club

Redevelopment

Meet some of our patients