King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has delivered a record‑breaking year for liver transplantation, performing more life‑saving procedures than any single UK centre in a calendar year, according to figures released by the Trust.
Between 1st January and 31st December 2025, clinicians at King’s carried out 277 liver transplants, marking the highest annual total ever achieved by one hospital in the UK. The milestone reflects the scale, expertise and resilience of one of Europe’s leading transplant programmes.
King’s Liver Transplant Unit operates one of the largest and most established liver transplantation services in Europe, providing specialist care for both adults and children with complex liver disease.
During 2025, the Trust completed:
- 227 adult liver transplants
- 50 paediatric liver transplants
This combined total highlights the breadth of the unit’s clinical capability and its vital role in providing highly specialised care to patients from across the UK and beyond.
Liver transplantation is often the only treatment option for patients with end‑stage liver disease, acute liver failure or certain liver cancers. The ability to deliver such a high volume of transplants within a single year reflects not only surgical excellence, but also the coordinated work of surgeons, hepatologists, anaesthetists, nurses, transplant coordinators and support teams.
The paediatric programme is particularly significant, requiring specialist expertise to care for infants and children with rare and complex conditions, as well as long‑term follow‑up into adulthood.
The achievement comes amid sustained demand for organ transplantation services and reflects ongoing efforts across the NHS to maximise the use of donated organs, improve outcomes and reduce waiting times for patients in urgent need.
Miriam Cortes-Cerisuelo, Clinical Lead for Transplant Surgery at King’s, said:
“My colleagues and I all feel a huge sense of pride and achievement in knowing we have helped more people access life-saving treatment. This record number of transplants for our centre is testament to the hard work of our multi-disciplinary teams. This is the result of a huge team effort, with the support of staff members at every level from areas including surgery, hepatology, theatres, nursing, anaesthetics, radiology, pathology, and pharmacy, as well as our incredible team of transplant coordinators.
“Machine perfusion, where donated livers are placed on a machine to pump blood or a cold solution with oxygen through them before a transplant, has also allowed us to offer more transplants to the patients who need them most. Through this process, we are able to transplant livers which would have otherwise carried a higher risk into patients who might otherwise face a long wait for a suitable organ, with excellent outcomes.
“More people than ever are currently waiting for a liver transplant, and we will continue to do all we can to make sure we can provide life-saving treatment to those who need it. Of course, our work would not be possible without the families who make the brave decision to donate their loved ones’ organs, and our incredible living donors, who take the life-changing decision to help someone they love, or a complete stranger.”
King’s College Hospital has long been recognised as a leader in transplant innovation, research and training, contributing to advances in surgical techniques, peri‑operative care and long‑term transplant outcomes.
The record‑breaking year demonstrates how sustained investment in specialist services, multidisciplinary teamwork and clinical excellence can translate directly into lives saved and families supported.
As demand for organ transplantation continues to grow, the Trust’s performance in 2025 stands as a powerful example of what can be achieved within the NHS through expertise, collaboration and dedication to patient care.
Image credit: iStock
