Pioneering hospital celebrates first ever heart transplant

Today marks 40 years since doctors at the Royal Papworth Hospital carried out their first ever heart transplant.

Back on January 14th 1979, a 44 year old was the first patient to undergo the operation overseen by the surgeon Sir Terence English. The recipient died 17 days later after developing a brain injury, but the dramatic effect of providing a patient in terminal heart failure with a normal functioning heart had been shown.

In fact the very first heart transplant in the UK actually took place at the National Heart Hospital in May 1968 and was the tenth in the world at the time but unfortunately turned out to be unsuccessful.

With survival rates failing to improve, heart transplants were stopped in the UK and around most of the world until 1979, when Papworth joined only a hand full of other centres in the world performing heart transplants.

Now it's the UK's leading heart and lung hospital treating more than 100,000 patients each year.

The hospital is currently preparing to move to a brand new £165 million hospital on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

Papworth Hospital became Royal Papworth in 2018 after being given the royal title by the Queen.