UK hand transplants to be funded by NHS

  • Health
Mark Cahill became the first person in the UK to have a hand transplant in 2012 when Professor Simon Kay operated on him Credit: Leeds General Infirmary/PA Wire

A programme to fund hand transplants for UK patients has been given the go-ahead.

Run by the NHS the programme will make funding available for patients who have been left in desperate need following injury or serious infection such as sepsis, with the first operation as part of the scheme expected to take place this year.

Consultant plastic surgeon Professor Simon Kay who will lead the team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which will be the UK base for the transplants, said the programme marked a big step forward for the surgical process in the UK.

  • What is the process involved in a hand transplant?

There are various stages involved in the hand transplant process starting with finding a donor hand which is a viable match in terms of blood group, skin tone and hand size.

Once a suitable hand has been found the transplant recipient will undergo a six to 12 hour procedure involving two teams of surgeons - one who work on removing the donor hand and one who focus on reattaching it to the recipient.

Surgeons will work to attach the hand by putting the two bones in the upper arm in place with titanium plates and screws before connecting key tendons and muscles.

The final stages of the operation involve connecting up blood vessels, including the two main arteries in the upper arm, and then when blood is circulating to the limb attaching the remaining nerves and tendons.

  • What happens after the operation?

Professor Simon Kay, who carried out the UK's first hand transplant said the medical process of having a hand transplant is about much more than just the surgery - the recovery and regeneration process can take up to nine months.

Patients face months of rehabilitation after the operation Credit: Leeds General Infirmary/PA Wire

  • How many hand transplants have there been?

There have been around 80 hand transplants performed worldwide since the surgery was first established.

The UK's first hand transplant was performed on former pub landlord Mark Cahill by Professor Simon Kay in 2012 and there are already four more people in Britain currently in line to receive a hand from a donor so they can undergo the same procedure.

Surgeons expect to carry out one or two transplants per year in future.

  • How much do hand transplants cost?

Each transplant costs an estimated £50,000 followed by a subsequent £2,000 and £3,000 per year in rehabilitation and immuno-suppressant drug costs.

  • What does the UK's first hand transplant patient have to say about the process?

Mark Cahill said the operation had "transformed his life".

The option to choose to donate limbs is not recorded on the NHS Organ Donation Register, so specific permission will be sought from the families of potential donors after their death.