Hospitals told to make public their kidney transplant success rate
NEW DELHI: Kidney transplant hospitals will now have to publish patient survival rates, deaths, graft failures and other long-term results, ending a system that left patients to choose where to undergo surgery without knowing how centres performed. The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) has directed transplant centres across the country to put the figures on their websites after BJP MP Captain Brijesh Chowta spotlighted the lack of transparency on transplant outcomes. NOTTO director Dr Anil Kumar directed state and UT authorities to ensure every transplant hospital prominently displays post-transplant outcome data on its website and submits complete and timely follow-up data to the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Registry. Hospitals have also been asked to give patients and their families or guardians full information about the procedures being undertaken — as well as its risks and likely outcomes — before taking consent. In his representation to the Union health minister, Captain Chowta had flagged gaps in tracking long-term outcomes of kidney transplant cases, citing a report submitted by two Mangaluru-based citizens. The MP said public attention largely focuses on successful transplants, while long-term complications, graft failures and post-transplant deaths remain inadequately tracked. The letter also highlighted the absence of a national registry to monitor long-term outcomes, arguing that greater transparency would help patients make informed decisions. Dr Anupam Roy, the additional director of nephrology and kidney transplant at Aakash Hospital in Dwarka, Delhi, said: “Making transplant outcomes public is a landmark step towards transparency and accountability. It will empower patients with objective information… However, these results must be interpreted in the context of patient complexity and risk profile”. NOTTO said 824 transplant centres are currently linked to the organ and tissue transplant registry and are required to record transplant and follow-up data through designated login credentials. Comprehensive reporting, the organisation said, would strengthen monitoring of transplant outcomes, improve traceability and support evidence-based policy decisions. Under the standard reporting format, hospitals will have to disclose the number and percentage of patients alive, deaths, graft failures and patients lost to follow-up at discharge — six months, one year, three years and five years after the kidney transplantation.
