asked the Secretary of Slate for Social Services if he will make a statement on end stage renal failure and renal replacement therapy, in the light of the information sent to him by the hon. Member for Brent, South.
The report " End Stage Renal Failure ", by the Office of Health Economics, makes a valuable contribution to discussion of this important subject. The report points out that overall treatment rates are lower in the United Kingdom than in most other Western European countries. However, it also shows our rate of transplantation to be among the highest in Europe, and the relative number of patients on home dialysis the highest in the world. I accept that there is still much to be done. I referred in my reply to the hon. Member for Derby, North (Mr. Whitehead) on 29 Aprilβ[Vol. 983, c. 435β36]βto the important part being played by voluntary efforts in adding to the resources available to the National Health Service. In addition, the action which I am taking to improve the kidney donor card scheme should make it possible for more patients to benefit from a successful transplant, and also enable others to start treatment by dialysis using machines which are thereby released.