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Galbraith praises new transplantation facility
27/04/1998
Patients across Scotland with renal and liver problems will benefit from the new operating facilities at the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit, Sam Galbraith MP, Scottish Office Health Minister, said today. Mr Galbraith, himself the beneficiary of a lung transplant, used the official opening of the twin theatre complex at Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary to remind the public of the continuing need for organ donation.
Mr Galbraith said:
"This modern facility will greatly benefit both those individuals who urgently need transplants, and the staff who carry out this work. The main problem with transplantation is always the shortage of organs. A problem compounded in that we cannot predict when they will become available. We are striving to find a way round these problems with a greater emphasis on live donation.
"Live donation is possible for those who need a kidney or liver transplant. This operating theatre will greatly assist this development, as it allows two operations to take place at the same time: one to remove the organ, the other to implant it.
"Transplantation can, from personal experience, be daunting. But it is also life-saving and life-enhancing. No patient who needs this surgery should be afraid of it. Neither should any member of the public who is considering, or is yet to consider, organ donation be apprehensive.
"We do need more organs in Scotland, and more selfless people to donate them. Only then will excellent new facilities such as this twin operating theatre deliver its full benefits to patients."
BACKGROUND
1. The new twin theatre complex at the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit (within the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh) took six months to complete and the £600,000 project was jointly-funded between the RIE and The Scottish Office.
2. The complex will accommodate liver and renal transplantation on a single site which allows surgery to be completed without disruption to non-transplant activity.
3. Anyone interested in joining the NHS Donor Register should look for a registration form, available from their local GP surgery or pharmacy.
News Release: 0841/98
April 27, 1998