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Hospital faces probe on transplants
07.07.08A hospital has been referred to health watchdogs amid concerns it is giving too many liver transplants to foreigners.
NHS transplant bosses alerted the Healthcare Commission after figures showed 72 non-British European Union nationals were given new livers in four years at King's College Hospital in London. Of those, 37 were given to Greek and Cypriot nationals in what were classed as "private" operations.
But the hospital, Europe's leading liver transplant centre, on Sunday reassured patients it was "absolutely not true" that patients from outside the UK could "buy" a transplant.
It insisted the figures were an anomaly caused by the fact the Greek and Cypriot governments operate a different funding arrangement with the Department of Health than other states.
Most countries pay the Government a block fee to cover their citizens' treatment in the UK. However, Greece and Cyprus pay hospitals directly on a patient-by-patient basis and so the procedures are classed as "private".
The proportion of Greeks and Cypriots was so high because unlike most European countries, they do not operate their own transplant system, a hospital spokesman said.
European law dictates that EU citizens are equally entitled to NHS services, including transplants, as Britons. However, some hospitals choose to prioritise UK patients.
Board members of NHS Blood and Transplant decided to refer the King's situation to watchdogs at a meeting on Thursday. In a statement, it said: "The Board was presented with information about the unusually high number of non-UK EU residents who received liver transplants at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust between 2003-2007.
"A high proportion of the liver transplants performed (there) on non-UK EU residents were undertaken on a private basis. While there is no evidence that the organ allocation system is being breached, NHSBT has an overarching statutory responsibility to ensure the integrity of organ donation.
"The Board is concerned that public confidence in the use of organs donated in the UK for transplantation may be significantly undermined if disproportionate numbers of non-UK patients are being treated at a single centre, especially where this treatment is taking place on a private basis."
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