Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of kidney transplants, including through increasing organ donation rates, improving family consent, supporting living donation, and maximising the use of donated kidneys.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is the organisation responsible for organ donation services in the United Kingdom.

NHSBT, working with the Department and NHS England, delivers a multi‑channel programme of activity to increase organ donation, improve family consent, and maximise the impact of both deceased and living donation. This includes:

• year-round communications and engagement, combining national campaigns, digital marketing, and partnership working. High-profile moments, such as Organ Donation Week, Living Donation Week, and World Kidney Day, are supported by media activity across a variety of channels, directing audiences to trusted information and to register their wishes on the NHS Organ Donor Register;

• partnerships, including with National Health Service organisations, charities, community, and advocacy groups, which aim to reach people at key moments through trusted channels. For example, a functionality has been introduced recently on the front page of the NHS App, making it easier for people to record, review, and share their organ donation decision as part of routine interactions with NHS services;

• targeted community engagement, supported by NHSBT’s Community Grants Programme, helps improve understanding of organ donation and family consent in communities with greater transplant need or lower consent rates; and

• work to maximise the use of donated kidneys, including new assessment and recovery centres, which are currently being piloted and will use machine perfusion technology to preserve and assess kidneys for longer, alongside trust utilisation strategies to help transplant centres and hospitals identify and address local barriers to using suitable organs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address practical barriers to home dialysis, including through patient education and choice, assisted peritoneal dialysis, community nursing support, reimbursement of utility costs, addressing storage and housing constraints, and transport incentives that may favour in-centre dialysis.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The updated service specification will be published in due course. It will support ongoing action to increase home dialysis provision in line with the Renal Services Transformation Programme ambition for at least 20% of patients to be treated at home, including through strengthened early patient education, standardised pre-dialysis pathways, and multidisciplinary care models that enable shared decision-making.

The specification will include defined metrics for commissioned providers, including the proportion of dialysis patients receiving home-based therapies, supporting formal assessment against the ambition of achieving at least 20% uptake.

This is complemented by improvements to operational processes, including home assessments and installation pathways, to ensure patients can access home therapies in a timely and consistent way.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how NHS England's target for 20 per cent of dialysis patients to receive treatment at home will be implemented, monitored and encouraged through the updated renal service specification; and what mechanisms will be used to support integrated care boards, renal networks and providers to increase home dialysis uptake.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The updated service specification will be published in due course. It will support ongoing action to increase home dialysis provision in line with the Renal Services Transformation Programme ambition for at least 20% of patients to be treated at home, including through strengthened early patient education, standardised pre-dialysis pathways, and multidisciplinary care models that enable shared decision-making.

The specification will include defined metrics for commissioned providers, including the proportion of dialysis patients receiving home-based therapies, supporting formal assessment against the ambition of achieving at least 20% uptake.

This is complemented by improvements to operational processes, including home assessments and installation pathways, to ensure patients can access home therapies in a timely and consistent way.

Found: peer) Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour; Life peer) Baroness Tyler of Enfield (Liberal Democrat; Life peer) Lord Watts

Found: Lord Jack of Courance; Mike Martin; Lord Sedwill; Baroness Tyler of Enfield; Lord Tunnicliffe; Lord Watts

Found: Lord Jack of Courance; Mike Martin; Lord Sedwill; Baroness Tyler of Enfield; Lord Tunnicliffe; Lord Watts

Found: Courance; Baroness Kidron; Mike Martin; Lord Sedwill; Baroness Tyler of Enfield; Lord Tunnicliffe; Lord Watts

Found: Courance; Baroness Kidron; Mike Martin; Lord Sedwill; Baroness Tyler of Enfield; Lord Tunnicliffe; Lord Watts

Submit Evidence (by 6 Sep 2026)

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