Living donor liver transplantation

In the financial year to 31 March 2023, living donor liver transplantation accounted for 3.6% of living transplantation activity in the UK. The remaining percentage activity was due to living donor kidney transplantation. All 7 liver transplant centres have emerging living donation programmes but the majority of transplants are currently performed in three centres; St James's University Hospital, Leeds, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham and King's College Hospital, London.

Living donor liver transplants are performed in both adult and paediatric recipients but have been historically more common in paediatric recipients where the left lateral lobe is transplanted. The right lobe is transplanted in adult-adult transplants. The same criteria for registration onto the transplant list are applied to living liver recipients as for deceased donor organ recipients.

For information and guidance about the legislative framework and how it applies to living donor liver transplantation access the Human Tissue Authority website.

Participating centres have developed local protocols based upon UK best practice guidelines, which can be found on the British Transplantation Society website. Individual transplant centres can be contacted through the Organ Donation website. 

Living Donor Liver Transplantation Project (LDLT) - Commenced April 2022

The Living Donor Liver Transplantation (LDLT) project is aligned with the 'UK Organ Donation and Transplantation Strategy 2030: Meeting the Need' and aims to deliver a UK-wide programme that improves access to LDLT as one of a range of transplant options for adults and children with end-stage liver disease.

You can access the Terms of Reference (ToR) (PDF 198KB) here.