Members of our liver transplant unit showcased the incredible work being done to help give patients with end stage liver disease a new lease of life and praised theatre teams for their dedication and commitment.

Welcoming attendees, Sneha Bedi, our lead governor, and chair of this event, said: ‘The Royal Free Hospital is one of seven specialist liver transplant units in the UK. The team receives referrals and perform transplants for patients across the country. Since starting in 1988, our clinicians have performed over 2,500 liver transplants.’

Providing a snapshot of liver transplantation in the UK, Professor Douglas Thorburn, consultant hepatologist, said: ‘Liver transplantation is an enormous success story as it can extend life and improve quality of life. In the UK we undertake approximately 900 liver transplants every year.’

He added that, despite this, services continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic with the waiting list for a transplant being the longest in its history. Over 700 adults and children are currently waiting for a liver transplant.

Placing a focus on how different members of the team come together to support patients before and after their transplant, Dr Aileen Marshall, consultant hepatologist and clinical service line lead for hepatology and transplant hepatology, thanked theatre teams for their continued dedication and commitment. She explained that theatre staff carry out transplants during the day and night which can sometimes be for extremely long periods of time and really demanding.

The last speaker was Professor Joerg-Matthias Pollok, hepato-pancreato-biliary (HBP) and liver transplant consultant surgeon and clinical lead for HPB surgery and liver transplantation, who spoke about the transplantation process.

He explained that the Royal Free Hospital was the only liver transplant unit in the UK to have access to all types of perfusion technologies. This technique allows clinicians to potentially intervene and improve organ quality before transplantation if they have any concerns about the donated liver. Where the liver is from, for example a cardiac death donor, determines which type of perfusion technology is applied.

Professor Pollock said: ‘Machine perfusion means that we can assess the quality of the organ much better than we used to prior to transplantation. This benefits the recipient and means that we can accept more organs from donors to be transplanted.’ He mentioned the DeFat trial that the trust is taking part in and aims to reduce the amount of fat in donated livers. 

Talking about live liver transplantations, he explained: ‘We embraced live donor transplantations in the past, but these were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic. We restarted the programme a few months ago where a mother donated half of her liver to her son. Both are doing very well.’ 

There is a national programme in the UK to establish more live donor liver transplantation centres and to help increase the number of donors.

Hosted by our governors, Medicine for Members' events showcase topics which are important to staff, patients, and the local community.