A LEADING transplant physician has disputed claims that kidney donations in Glasgow are the lowest in Britain.
Marc Clancy, who is the consultant transplant surgeon and lead director for transplantation with the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC), has described the medical study as outdated and misleading.
The report, published today in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, was compiled by the department of surgery at Cambridge University in consort with NHS Blood and Transplant.
Researchers analysed the rate of kindey donations from patients who die while in critical care.
For Glasgow, they found donations were 3.2% of those deaths, while donations in areas such as Cardiff were more than twice as high.
However, Mr Clancy argues that the findings do not give an accurate representation of Glasgow donations, as the data had been collated from intensive care units (ICUs) throughout the west of Scotland.
He is also concerned that the most recent work performed by NHSGGC has not been recognised in the survey.
He said: "It is deeply disappointing that this out-of-date report is being portrayed as reflective of the current status of kidney donation within Glasgow.
"At a most basic level the report is misleading in that it refers to data drawn from intentsive care units from across the whole of the west of Scotland as being 'Glasgow' specific.
"However, of greater concern is the fact the data, drawn from a single period of time more than two years ago, fails to reflect the significant increase in donor rates that has been achieved across the west of Scotland — from ICUs from Dumfries to Fort William — over the past two years.
"Furthermore, the figures quoted in the report are in no way whatsoever a reflection of the West of Scotland Renal Transplant Unit based in Glasgow, which has increased transplant numbers by over 60% since 2010, way above most other UK transplant units.
"This improved picture is part of a nationwide Scottish success story which has seen donation rates increase by more than 74% since 2008, compared to the UK-wide increase of 50%.
"Given the vast increase of donation rates achieved in Scotland in the past two years, the publication of this out-of-date report is deeply unhelpful and disruptive to those who have worked tirelessly to drive donation rates up to unprecedented levels in Scotland."
There are more than 5700 people currently on the waiting list for a kidney transplant in the UK, with the average waiting time of around three years.
A total of 373 patients died last year while waiting for a suitable kidney donor.
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