Doctors could give transplant patients organs from cancer victims, drug addicts or those with infections under new plans in a bid to battle the shortage of healthy donors. Experts say donor organs are declining in quality with more now coming from the elderly or those damaged by lifestyle. The NHS is trying to increase the numbers of willing organ donors because so many patients are dying waiting for transplants. Doctors could give transplant patients organs from cancer victims, drug addicts, and those with infections under new plans (file picture) And one of the plans reportedly been considered is offering patients transplants using organs from people who would have usually had them rejected after being deemed to 'high-risk'. According to the Sunday Times, the proposals would create a special 'fast track' waiting list for the high risk organs. Dr Titus Augustine, director of transplantation at Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, told the newspaper: 'One of the things that we have been looking at is trying to match risk with risk. 'There are people on the lost who are willing to take that risk, accept kidneys from people with known infection risk or cancer risk.' Organs are deemed high risk if they come from cancer patients, intravenous drug users and those with a history of having high-risk sex lives. However, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have said they rejected a research proposal looking into high-risk organ donation. A spokesperson said: 'The Trust submits hundreds of research proposals and applications for funding every year. 'This was an application for funding for a research project looking in to offering patients at risk of dying without transplantation organs considered high risk. 'This proposal was rejected by the funding body and therefore will not be progressing any further.' Darren Hughes, 42, left, and Robert Stuart, 67, right, both died after receiving kidneys infected with meningitis-causing parasitic worms . Last year, it emerged that at least a quarter of all transplants that took place last year involved ‘high-risk’ organs that could be damaged or infected. Figures obtained from NHS Blood and Transplant, the authority which oversees donations, show that last year, 333 patients were given high-risk organs. This represented a quarter of the 1,320 transplanted and included donors who were former addicts, cancer sufferers or those aged over 71. The 333 figure was almost certainly an underestimate because it does not include donations from smokers, the obese or the very sexually active who may have HIV or other infections. But Bryon Jaques, who worked for Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals before emigrating to Australia, warned the NHS drive to increase donations was flawed. It comes after it emerged that two patients had died after being given kidneys from a homeless alcoholic infected with a rare parasitic worm. The relatives of Darren Hughes, 42, and grandfather Robert Stuart, 67, say they were never told about the lifestyle of the donor by doctors at University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff. Mr Stuart and Mr Hughes both underwent the operations at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff (pictured) in 2013 and died within three weeks . The organs belonged to a 39-year-old alcoholic with cirrhosis and had been rejected by hospitals in England and Scotland before they were accepted by the University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff. The man had died of meningitis from an unknown cause and the mystery behind his death had stopped surgeons in Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield, Birmingham and Edinburgh from accepting his kidneys. Mr Jaques, who is a transplant surgeon and liver specialist, said: ‘We were regularly offered donors that I considered to be very high risk. We were offered organs of patients who were dying of widespread sepsis (blood infection). ‘I was offered organs from patients with a history of recent and significant high grade cancer, which has a high risk of transmission. ‘We were offered livers from patients who were actually dying of liver failure. The vast majority of transplants that do take place in the UK are successful and that’s due to the dedication and hard work of the whole transplant community. Last year – 2013/2014 – there were 4,655 transplants, an increase of 10 per cent on the year before.
NHS is trying to increase the number of organ donors due to a shortage . More and more people are dying while they wait for organ transplants . Under new plans, doctors could give patients organs that are 'high-risk'
Would come from cancer victims, drug addicts and those with infections . Comes after figures showed a quarter of transplants in 2013 involved 'high-risk' organs .