ALMOST 30 life-saving kidney transplants have been carried out in Northern Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The surgery took place over the past two weeks following a collaboration between Belfast City Hospital, the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Ulster Independent Clinic, the BBC reported last night.
It came after transplant surgery was initially halted during the coronavirus crisis.
While most other renal transplant centres across the UK closed down due to the virus, Belfast remained open and in just over a fortnight, almost one third of the north's kidney transplant waiting list was cleared.
Five kidney transplants were carried out in one 24-hour period with one of the operations taking place in the Ulster Independent Clinic.
Kidney transplant consultant Dr Aisling Courtney, of the City Hospital, told the BBC: "To do so many transplants in such a short space of time is almost unbelievable.
"It's incredible that something so terrible as the Covid-19 infection has had a silver lining for us in terms of offering new life, in the midst of all that's going on.
"There's been so much which has been so difficult for staff in the NHS, for patients and for relatives, so to be able to send a really positive message at this time is super."
Dr Michael McBrien, clinical director at the RVH, added: "The great thing about renal transplant operations is that they don't need to access critical care on which there was much pressure to protect".
