The medical director of NHS Blood and Transplant blames NHS England for a “fragmented” transplant system with burnt-out staff, last-minute cancellations and heart/lung numbers flat for 30 years, in a leaked letter.
NHS Transplant Chief Blasts NHS England in Leaked Letter
Professor Derek Manas, medical director of NHS Blood and Transplant, wrote to NHS England admonishing it for creating a system with a burnt-out workforce, “few consequences for poor performance” and operations cancelled “last-minute”, leading to “unpredictable utilisation of donated organs”. The number of heart and lung transplants has not increased in 30 years; the UK transplants one in 10 donated lungs and one in seven hearts — half the proportion of other Western nations — and waiting times for hearts range from eight months to four-and-a-half years depending on hospital.
Half of the six UK heart/lung centres have lost their top surgeon in two years. Former health minister Dr Zubir Ahmed (who quit in May) wants NHS Blood and Transplant to gain commissioning powers across the UK as part of the planned abolition of NHS England, so patients can be moved to where organs are available. NHS England says it is “working hard to improve these life-saving services”.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crl711557e6o
Why it matters: A leaked letter from the service’s own medical director exposing systemic failure — directly relevant to the NHS reform debate and the Burnham government’s planned abolition of NHS England.
Similar to my point earlier on social contract. The NHS is the biggest item on the national budget and if inefficiencies are leading to this what is the future hold. What can be done to help turn this around?