Passed by the NKF 14th May 2011, amended Jan 2020

The National Kidney Federation (NKF) believes that kidney transplantation has the capacity to extend life and improve the quality of life for patients. It also recognises that in some cases life may still be extended even though the organ being transplanted has health issues.

The Federation considers that transplant surgeons have an absolute duty to investigate the health of the potential donor, and the kidney organ, in as much detail as practicable in the time available whilst the organ remains viable, and to fully inform the proposed recipient of any health issues revealed, before transplantation takes place.

A potential recipient should inform the transplant surgeon of any circumstances whereby they would not wish the transplant operation to proceed once the health of the donor, or quality of the organ can be determined.