THE head of heart transplant surgery in Scotland has welcomed plans for a fresh government debate on a possible move to an opt-out transplant system.

Programme director Dr Mark Petrie said he was "delighted" the Welsh Assembly had passed the change to come into force on December 1 next year.

He said great progress had been made in Scotland with new figures showing the number of life-saving heart transplants tripled last year, from eight to 24.

However, with an estimated 50,000 Scots suffering from heart failure, he said "many more" could benefit from a transplant.

Dr Petrie said last year's results had been achieved - Scotland now has the highest heart transplant rate in the UK - due to more donors, improved training for the nurses who approach families and by identifying patients who could benefit from a transplant earlier.

Last month MSPs debating the Evening Times' petition for an opt-out system - where the default position is that everyone is a donor - voted to bid for a full debate in parliament.

While Dr Petrie said efforts were now focused on other means of achieving more transplant surgery, he signalled his support for a fresh debate on the current opt-in system.

A further 131 people joined the organ donation register in Scotland last year, an increase of a third.

However, more than half of the Scottish population is still not registered.

He said: "We want to see the implications of Wales - we are delighted that Wales is doing it. A full debate is the right thing to do.

"There are many more people who could benefit from transplants in Scot-land than the 24 last year. There are 50,000 people in Scotland with heart failure.

"There has been a huge effort to get more donors. A lot of work with specialist nurses encouraging families to feel comfortable about donation.

"There have been improvements in the use of hearts with dedicated teams going out to look at the hearts and looking after the donor to make sure we make the best use of the organs.

"There has also been improvements looking after patients with heart failure, the recipients, so that patients are flagged up to us at an earlier stage.

"There were 20 trans-plants last year. We are confident we can sustain that and improve on it. Moving forward, there is a need to have a further increase in this number to ensure we meet the need of everyone requiring heart transplantation."

Dr Petrie said great strides had been made in the use of ventricular assist devices, a mechanical pump used to support heart function and blood flow in people who have weakened hearts. He said: "They can last for five to seven years. We use them as a bridge to transplant."

Last month politicians debating the Evening Times' Opt For Life camp-aign petition said ministers should not wait for an eval-uation of the Welsh system before deciding on opt-out.

The change is expected to lead to an extra 15 donors a year, or 45 potentially life-saving operations.

Under the Welsh "soft" opt-out system, the public will have three choices: to opt in, opt out or do nothing, which will be "deemed consent". Family members will still have a say and there will be an option to appoint a representative to make wishes known in the event of death.

Moves to progress the debate were welcomed by the BMA and major charities including Kidney Research UK and the British Heart Foundation.

caroline.wilson@ eveningtimes.co.uk