Barts and The London Renal Centre | Our services | Renal transplantation service
Renal transplantation service
Our renal transplantation service has been giving life-saving kidney transplants since the late 1960’s. On average, we currently perform approximately 80 renal transplants a year. Our transplant team includes a multidisciplinary team of doctors, pharmacists, dietitians, a team of five clinical nurse specialists, a live donor co-ordinator and a nursing assistant.
The transplant operation and the subsequent treatment are both relatively arduous and it is vital that we are ensure our patients are fit and well enough to withstand the whole process.
Transplant assessment clinic
Our patients will attend a group lecture so that they learn everything about a transplant operation. Each patient will then be seen by our clinical nurse specialist, a live donor co-ordinator and a consultant nephrologist. They will then undergo further investigations that in most cases take one week which may include special blood tests and heart scans before being able to access the transplant waiting list.
Transplant waiting list
Once a patient is on our renal transplant list, they will be periodically called for review to ensure they are still in good health and able to go forward should a potential kidney donor become available. There are more patients on the waiting list than potential donors and therefore some patients may have to wait for many years before being transplanted.
Living donor transplantation
We have an expanding and successful living donor transplant program. The donors are either family members or partners. We enquire from all our patients on our waiting list for potential donors from their family as this form of transplantation provides the best long term outcome.
Post transplant care
Soon after discharge our transplant patients are reviewed very closely, approximately three times a week, to ensure they are on the right dose of medication to help prevent complications such as rejection and infection. Once kidney function has stabilised they are reviewed every three months by multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and dieticians. Our patients have direct access to the transplant clinic team if they have any concerns or are experiencing problems.
Clinic address:
Renal Dialysis and Transplant Outpatients Unit
Basement Floor
East Wing
The Royal London Hospital Whitechapel
London
E1 1BB
Tel: 020 7377 7000 Ext. 3204
To learn more about kidney transplantations please click here.
