Heart transplants in the United Kingdom (UK) 2023/24

In 2023/24, 237 heart transplants were performed in the United Kingdom, not including heart-lung transplants. The bulk of heart transplants in this year took place in England at 180 procedures. Scotland had 33 heart transplants performed, followed by Wales with ten procedures and eight in Northern Ireland. 

The heart transplant waiting list

At the end of the period 2023/24, there were still 289 patients on the heart transplant waiting list in the UK, 231 of which were in England. Additionally, in this year, 13 patients died in the UK while on the organ transplant list waiting for a heart, while another two died while requiring a heart-lung transplant. Not all hearts that are offered for donation can be used. For example, in this year, 572 hearts were not used for organ donation because the donor was too old.

Activity compared to the rest of Europe

The UK has a relatively low rate of heart transplants compared to other European Union nations. With a rate of 2.9 heart transplants per million population in 2022, this was ranked as the 21st highest in Europe. Slovenia had the highest heart transplant rate in 2022 with 13.8 procedures per million.