The Chief Medical Officer said “difficult decisions have had to be made” due to pressure on the health service.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, organs from deceased donors are not used in life-saving transplants and are routinely rejected.
The demand for intensive care at Belfast City Hospital means there are no operating facilities available for kidney transplant surgeries.
Transplant services were suspended in NI in November due to pressure on health services due to coronavirus.
A recently donated kidney from a deceased donor remains unused.
When this moratorium was first introduced, this restriction meant that kidney transplants would only take place for patients for whom it was difficult to find a suitable match, and only if a deceased donor kidney became available. It meant that.
Living donor transplants were completely discontinued.
Dr Michael McBride, Northern Ireland’s chief medical officer, apologized and said pressure on the health service had “forced us to make difficult decisions”.
He said this was not an easy decision for authorities, but high levels of community transmission of the virus were a factor.
“You have to keep in mind that for highly susceptible people, it’s difficult to find a match,” he said.
“The deceased kidney donor program is ongoing, but the same is not true for the living donor program.”
Dr. McBride said the decision will be continually reviewed and affected patients will also be monitored to ensure their condition does not worsen while awaiting transplant surgery.
“Stop scandals.”
DUP MP Ian Paisley raised the issue in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
He said: “Since October 2020, 24 patients have been refused a kidney transplant in Northern Ireland.
DUP MP Ian Paisley speaks in Parliament on Wednesday
“How can this hospital persuade health authorities to resume kidney donor transplant surgery by utilizing unused public and private operating room space and prevent a scandal of discarding viable transplant organs?” Is not it?”
Belfast carried out a record number of transplants in 2020 despite the pandemic, including 101 transplants in 101 days.
They are one of the only transplant centers to remain open in the UK, in partnership with the Royal Victoria Hospital.
This was also the first time a transplant was performed in the private sector.
In a statement, the Belfast Trust said it would continue to carry out transplants for patients for whom it is extremely difficult to find a match.
It is understood that discussions have begun about how to restart the transplant program, possibly at a center outside the Belfast Trust area.
