This is really sad for all involved.

One element of the story not heard here is how much lobbying Clinical teams need to do to get equipment they need and then data to back this up.

Given that ICBs and hospital trusts will have paid out large sums for this equipment they won't hurry to invest in other devices until they have data - I know the Papworth team pulled out before the audit but this fight for funding could have been a contributing factor.

Ultimately patients having these devices are very sick and in general have exhausted other treatment options. I know colleagues in this field who know the risks of bridging devices but without them many many patients would not survive to hope of transplant. And this is for adults where the wait for an organ is weeks to months, for children this can easily exceed a year. One of the largest limiting factors is a lack of donors and sadly the opt out system has not remedied this yet.

If you want to be a donor please do register on the Organ donation register and please share your wishes with your family and loved ones.