THE number of heart transplants carried out in Scotland has spiked this year despite the impact of Covid on health services and clinical experts are trying to find out why.

Transplant officials said there is also evidence that there has been an increase in the number of younger, deceased donors.

Figures show 12 heart transplants had already been carried out over a six month period from April to September, compared to 13 for an entire year from April 2019 to March 31 2010. A total of 11 were carried out the previous year at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Clydebank.

While numbers fluctuate from year to year, transplant sources have suggested that the new opt-out organ donor system in England, which came into effect in May this year, may have played a role in the rise as donations are retrieved from across the UK.

READ MORE: How one Scots surgeon saved countless lives with a revolutionary operation 

It is estimated that the new English system will lead to an additional 700 transplants each year by 2023.

Scotland is preparing to make the same change on March 26, whereby individuals over the age of 16 will be required to register an objection if they do not wish to donate organs after death, although families will still be consulted about the final decision.

While cardiothoracic transplants increased, the number of patients receiving a kidney transplant this year has dropped, in part due to living donor operations having to be suspended for several months due to Covid.

While deceased donor transplants are broadly comparable to the previous year, a total of 15 living kidney transplants were carried out from April to September, compared with 105 last year.

Susan Hannah, regional manager for NHS Blood and Transplant Scotland, said it is expected that transplant numbers will suffer further decline as we enter the next period of lockdown.

She said: “Like other services which have been impacted by the pandemic organ donation is no different.

“As we are going into a more difficult time now, we can see that the numbers are dropping again.

“Out of all the transplants, cardiothoracic has been the most successful. We are not quite sure why the improvement is there.

READ MORE: Corneal blindness could be eradicated by 2035

“Possibly, the age of our donors might be a little less than previous but we generally don’t know. “It’s just something we are aware of.

“We have different types of donations and I can only say that we are looking into it, we have to assess each donor on a case by case basis.

“Whilst we acknowledge that the pandemic has been challenging for us, we have continued to carry out transplants throughout it and we are incredibly grateful to the donors, the families and the units for supporting us.”

The latest Scottish data shows that one in five (22 per cent) have not yet decided whether they will be a donor or opt out of donation, while 70 per cent have decided to be a donor, and eight per cent have decided to opt out.

Figures from April to September show 50% of the Scottish public has signed up to the organ donor register (2,725,11) while 25,939 people have ‘opted out’.

READ MORE: Pandemic has created 'perfect storm' for heart deaths 

The figure is expected to rise after the government’s awareness campaign gets underway this month. However, the numbers in England and Wales registering an objection are not said to have been ‘unexpected or concerning.’

Ms Hannah added: “When you start to change a system it prompts interest. As we are asking people to make their choice known, then that prompts more opt out registrations.

“When you look at the comparison for opt ins, it’s a very tiny amount. In truth, we would expect that once the campaign starts in January, we would expect to see a rise in opt outs.”