Overview
- NHS Blood and Transplant says roughly one in five hospital requests for heart valves went unfilled last year.
- Donations to UK heart valve banks fell from 600 hearts in 2021 to 368 in 2024, with the shortfall persisting this year.
- Officials report they are not getting enough donations to meet demand, are investigating causes, and are urging people to support tissue donation on the NHS Organ Donor Register.
- NHSBT cites fewer overall organ donors last year and more deaths occurring at home, where heart valve donation is not possible.
- Patient Poppy Wilson, 21, who received a valve at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital in June 2025, thanked her donor and encouraged others to donate.