Centre will be the first in the UK dedicated to organ transplantation

The UK’s first dedicated organ transplantation centre is to open in Newcastle. The facility, which cost £25m, will be known as the Institute of Transplantation (IoT).

The centre was built by Bam and designed by Ryder Architecture. It will serve a local population of 3.3m, as well as treating patients referred from Scotland and Ireland.

The IoT will undertake research and development activity in partnership with Newcastle University. It hopes to provide a five star academic healthcare environment to advance the treatment and care of patients suffering from organ failure and requiring a transplant.

As one of only four such medical centres of excellence in the world, The IoT features an education suite and lecture theatre that will allow visiting specialists to see and learn from the procedures performed there.

The facility has been handed over to the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for fit-out, and will be fully operational by the end of November.