NEW figures have revealed more people than ever before are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant in the UK.

Across the South West, 596 people are currently on the waiting list for an organ transplant but donor and transplant numbers have fallen.

New figures released by NHS Blood and Transplant reveal the stark reality that 8,096 patients in the UK were on the active transplant waiting list as of March 31, 2025 – the highest number on record.

With a further 3,883 temporarily suspended because they are either currently unfit for transplant or temporarily unavailable, almost 12,000 people are living in daily uncertainty if they will get the organ they need.

Last year saw over 100 fewer deceased organ donors nationally. In the South West the number of deceased organ donors remained stable with 154 people donating after death compared to 155 the previous year.

One patient on the transplant waiting list is South West resident, Kerry Fear.

Everything seemed normal when Kerry was born but over the next few weeks she struggled to feed and was sleepy. At 6 weeks old a GP was worried after listening to her heart and referred her hospital. Investigative surgery at nine weeks old discovered she only had three heart chambers, two holes in her heart and her two main arteries were the wrong way round.

Nothing could be done at the time but Kerry had Fontan surgery aged five. Over the next four decades Kerry had multiple open heart surgeries, and pacemakers fitted. The treatments started to be less effective, meaning a heart transplant is now the only option and Kerry, was listed on the waiting list under the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, in May 2024.

Kerry, now aged 50, and married with a stepdaughter, says: “I’ve always got on with life and had a fairly normal life, the main thing has been not being able to be as active as I’d like, do sports.

“I have noticed my heart rhythm isn’t normal and a slow decline. I don’t feel brilliant, but I don’t feel terrible, but you can deteriorate quickly.

“I knew being listed for a transplant was coming. At first it was scary, you realise the magnitude of it, every time the phone rings you panic a bit. But as time goes on, you have to get on with life. I don’t want to miss anything or waste any time when I can do what I can at the moment.”

In the South West, 368 people received an organ transplant last year compared to 344 the year before, though across the country consent and authorisation rates remain stubbornly low at 59 per cent.

Director of organ and tissue donation and transplantation, Anthony Clarkson said: "We are facing an incredibly concerning situation where more people than ever are waiting for transplants, but fewer donations are taking place. Tragically, someone will die today waiting for a transplant and we urgently need more people to register their decision to donate and to have these vital conversations with their families.”