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TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS
Apart from kidney transplants which are carried out at Belfast City Hospital and corneal transplants at Royal Victoria Hospital, all other types of organ transplants are carried out in England or Scotland. This is because the population of N. Ireland is too small to sustain a transplant unit.
Being away from home can cause extra trauma as people are distanced from the support of visits by family and friends.
Exact figures are hard to obtain, but currently there are on average 6-10 heart and 6-10 liver and a few lung, heart/lung or rare multiple organ transplants carried out on N. Ireland residents every year
At any one time there are a total of approximately 200 in N.Ireland waiting for organ transplantation (including kidney transplants). Due to a chronic shortage of donated organs, people often have to wait an unacceptably long period of time, with a third to a half dying before they can have their transplant
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