Plea for heart valve donors after dip in donations

Concerns have been raised over a drop in the number of heart valves donated for life-saving surgeries.

The NHS could not supply around one in five (20%) of heart valve requests from hospitals last year, according to new figures from NHS Blood and Transplant.

This comes after a dip in the number of hearts donated to heart valve banks, with 600 hearts donated in 2021 and just 368 donated in 2024.

Officials said that the shortage is continuing this year.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) officials said: “We are just not getting enough donations to meet demand.”

It is calling on people to support tissue donation on the NHS Organ Donor Register and to support heart valve donation if a loved one dies in circumstances where donation is possible.

Jackie Brander, head of operations for tissue donation at NHS Blood and Transplant said: “Heart valves can be especially important for babies born with genetic heart defects.

“But the reality is we are just not getting enough donations to meet demand.

“We think there are several reasons why heart valve donation has decreased.

“Organ and tissue donation as a whole has fallen – last year, for example there were 100 fewer organ donors.

“Also, since the pandemic, more people are dying at home or in the community, where heart valve donation is not possible.

“We’re investigating whether there might be other reasons, but what we really need is for more people to support donation – you will change and save lives.”

Heart valve replacements are needed when a person’s heart valve is damaged, diseased or defective.

Patients include adults, whose heart valves can begin to narrow or leak, and for children with genetic heart disorders.

Poppy Wilson, who had a heart valve replacement in June 2025 at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, said how grateful she was to her donor’s family.

The 21-year-old from Stockport, has just graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University after studying history.

Miss Wilson was born with congenital heart disease and needed a valve replacement after her own aortic heart valve became leaky and narrow.

“It was a gradual deterioration. I was increasingly symptomatic and it became difficult to climb stairs,” she said.

“Without surgery, I would have gone into heart failure or suffered a cardiac arrest.

“Open heart surgery was a daunting and emotional experience but my surgeon and the medical team was phenomenal.”

She added: “Now I can certainly notice a huge difference.

“I went for lunch with my mum where we had to walk up a steep hill.

“I began to cry because I could not believe I did not feel chest pain, palpitations or breathlessness. I’d never felt like that before.

“A month after the operation I got to meet my beautiful baby nephew.

“I would not have been able to do that without the heart valve.

“I get so emotional thinking about the donor and the donor family. I can’t put into words how grateful I am. It’s overwhelming.

“I would encourage people to donate because my donor absolutely changed my life.”

Ms Wilson does ballroom and Latin dancing and is aiming to dance at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool next year.

Professor Attilio Lotto, a congenital cardiac surgeon from  Liverpool, said: “Every donated heart valve represents not just a gift, but a second chance at life.

“While many people are familiar with the idea of donating organs such as kidneys, liver, or lungs, fewer realise that donating heart valves and tissues after death can also transform lives. “