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British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) raises money to fund research into heart and circulatory diseases and their risk factors. It is the largest independent funder of cardiovascular research in Northern Ireland, having invested around £10 million.
Every day in the UK, three people die waiting on an organ donation, and over 100 people die each year in need of a new heart.
Our research has been keeping hearts beating for more than 60 years. In that time, the number of people who die from heart and circulatory diseases in the UK each year has fallen by half. But one in four people in Northern Ireland still die from heart and circulatory diseases.
BHF-funded heart transplant pioneers
Currently, a heart transplant is the only option for end-stage heart failure. We have funded research into heart transplantation since the early 1960s, even before the world’s first heart transplant in 1967.
Many BHF-funded researchers who have pioneered heart transplants in the UK, including Professors Donald Ross, Donald Longmore and Jane Somerville, were part of the team who performed the UK’s first heart transplant at the National Heart Hospital in London in 1968.
BHF Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub and Professor Sir Terence English received support from the BHF to make this procedure safer. BHF-funded research led by Professor David Hearse in the 1970s contributed to the development of a fluid to preserve donor hearts for longer, which was used in hospitals all over the world and helped make many more heart transplants possible.
Campaigning for a new organ donation law
Every day in the UK, three people die waiting on an organ donation, and over 100 people die each year in need of a new heart.
BHF Northern Ireland has campaigned for many years for the introduction of a soft opt-out organ donation system, along with heart heroes such as Dáithí Mac Gabhann, the Duncan family and the Guthrie family. We were delighted in 2022 to see Dáithí’s Law become a reality.
The change to a soft opt-out system in Wales, England and Scotland has increased the consent rate for organ donation and we look forward to seeing the same change in Northern Ireland to give more people a chance of life after severe heart failure.
Explore our content:
- Our heart transplant booklet talks in detail about heart transplantation and is for people who have had, or are waiting for, a heart transplant. It's also very helpful for family and friends.
- Explore our interactive heart transplant timeline
- Saved by a heart transplant - read Bobby’s story
If you have any questions or if anything is worrying you, you can talk to your transplant team or call our Heart Helpline on 0300 330 3311.
Find out more about BHF Northern Ireland:
On our website bhf.org.uk
Follow @BHFNI on Twitter
Follow us on Facebook British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland