NINE patients who died at two Sussex hospitals went on to save the lives of 19people waiting for a transplant.

The patients were being cared for at Worthing Hospital and St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester between April 2014 and the end of last March.

The decision by the donors’ relatives to allow the procedures to go ahead led to transplants for 14 kidneys, five livers and two lungs.

A report to Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust said the 14 donated kidneys alone would save the NHS £480,000 a year over the next decade.

This is because patients would no longer need dialysis or related treatment.

The trust’s report comes as NHS Blood and Transplant continues to urge people to sign up to the organ donor register.

A total of 60 people across Sussex have died in the last five years while waiting for a donor and there are currently 139 still on the waiting list for a transplant.

Of those 42 have been waiting for more than two years and eight have been waiting longer than five years.

The trust has a specialist nurse for organ donation who liaises between staff and families to ensure any potential donor is not missed.

Its organ donation committee has carried out a wide range of activities including enabling and encouraging awareness and training among staff while continuing to respect the views of donors and donor families.

Future plans include developing a series of short films interviewing donor families, recipients and waiting list patients to help raise awareness.

A report to the trust board said more needed to be done to ensure every avenue was followed at hospital accident and emergency departments.

It said: “Ongoing education remains the key to encouraging early referral of potential donors.

“The potential is very small and this is reflected in the numbers. There was only one missed true potential donor in the trust over this period.

“Work continues to ensure that donor potential, however small, is maximised with education and training and a specialist nurse for organ donation presence on a regular basis."