UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme
The UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme matches people who want to donate with people who need a transplant.
A person who chooses to give a kidney to somebody else is called a donor. A person who receives a kidney is called a recipient.
The UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme works by joining together one or more donor and recipient pairs, increasing the chances of each person finding a match.
You can donate anonymously, without making your name known to any recipients, and by donating through the sharing scheme you could help up to 3 people on the UK transplant waiting list.
If you are donating to someone you don't know, it is very likely you will donate into the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme to start a chain of transplants.
When to join the sharing scheme
- If you want to donate to someone you know, but you are not a match due to your blood or tissue type
- If you want to donate to someone you don't know and help up to 3 people waiting for a transplant at the same time
- If you have had an organ offered to you but are looking for a closer age or tissue type match
Watch our video to find out more about the scheme
How donors and recipients are matched
NHS Blood and Transplant performs a 'matching run’ 4 times a year between all the donor and recipient pairs in the scheme using a computer program which has been specially designed to work out the best number and combination of potential transplants.
Once suitable pairs have been matched by computer, the transplant centres involved carry out their own testing using blood samples to confirm that all transplants can go ahead.
The aim is that all the identified transplants go ahead within 10 weeks after the matching run. However, timings can vary depending on how many pairs are involved and how complicated the arrangements between the transplant centres are. Timings may also change if one of the donors or recipients becomes ill.
The right to remain anonymous
If you take part in the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme, it is important that you understand your responsibilities to any other donors and recipients who may also take part in the scheme with you.
It is important that you respect the privacy and anonymity of everyone involved if you are matched, particularly if you share your story through media or social media.
You should discuss these ideas in more detail with your living donor team so that they can offer you further guidance.
Donating to someone you know
If you would like to donate a kidney to someone you know, but your blood or tissue types do not match, it may be possible for you to be matched with another donor and recipient pair in the same situation.
For more information on donating to someone you know through the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme please contact the living donor coordinator or transplant liaison nurse at your nearest kidney transplant centre.
Prafula and Shakti's story
Prafula wanted to donate a kidney to her niece Shakti, who had lived with chronic kidney disease since birth. Unfortunately, Prafula was not a tissue match for Shakti.
After speaking to their transplant team, they decided to join the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme as a donor and recipient pair. It is sometimes harder for people of South Asian or Black heritage to find a match and so the hope was to increase Shakti’s chances by ‘swapping’ kidneys with another mismatched pair.
Prafula's kidney was matched to an anonymous patient in need, and Shakti found a life-changing match from an anonymous donor. Prafula remembers:
"6 operations around the UK took place that day in this chain, it was a tense day for us… we received fantastic care from the NHS nurses and doctors and after 5 days we both came home with a good working kidney each!"
Donating to someone you don't know
You can also use the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme to to donate a kidney to someone you don't know who is in need of a transplant. This type of donation is known as non-directed altruistic donation.
For more information on donating to someone you don't know through UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme please contact the living donor coordinator or transplant liaison nurse at your nearest kidney transplant centre
