Referral and Listing:
If you are a physician and feel that your patient has end-stage organ disease and could benefit from an additional assessment, you may refer him or her for a consultation with the Multi-Organ Transplant Program (MOTP) at London Health Science Centre (LHSC). Patients may be referred from the London region, the province of Ontario, or from across Canada.
Please note: As a result of the ongoing shortage of donated organs, the Multi-Organ Transplant Program can only offer transplantation services to patients who are full-time residents of Canada (Canadian citizens or those with landed immigrant status). Patients should have current coverage with a provincial health insurance plan such as OHIP, or coverage through the Interim Federal Health Program.
Physicians can refer patients to the LHSC Kidney Transplant Program for kidney or kidney-pancreas transplantation. Patients may be assessed when they are approaching end-stage kidney disease, either before they have started dialysis or once they have initiated dialysis. Both living and deceased donors are used for kidney transplants that are performed at LHSC. Patients can also be referred for pancreas alone transplantation. If you have questions about a patient’s eligibility for transplant assessment, please complete the Opinion Referral Form.
The process for work-up assessment is similar for all our kidney, kidney-pancreas, and pancreas patients.
High BMI can pose a surgical risk to a patient undergoing kidney or combined kidney-pancreas transplantation: see BMI Guidelines.
Smoking is not an absolute contraindication to transplant, except in conditions of PVD, CAD, or pulmonary disease in which smoking is linked to increased mortality and can affect survival of the transplant: see Smoking Cessation Guidelines.
Please review this Kidney Transplant Referral Form including the Appendix, which outlines the investigations and specific documentation required by the LHSC Kidney Transplant Program to assess your patient for transplant. Please note that the Transplant Program at LHSC requires patients to have received their COVID-19 vaccine if able. For patients who are unable to be vaccinated, they may be referred to another centre and will require the COVID-19 Vaccination Education Checklist to be completed.
Once the transplant referral package has been received, the team will contact the patient directly to schedule an outpatient assessment, which will be done over a two-day period. A copy of the patient’s assessment schedule will be faxed to your office and/or the patient's dialysis unit.
HSC Guidelines, Protocols and Forms:
The following guidelines and protocols were developed by LHSC's Kidney Transplant Team and are specific to the care of LHSC kidney recipients. They may not be applicable to candidates being assessed by other centres.
The following are guidelines and listing guidelines and a standard referral form as developed by Ontario's Trillium Gift of Life Network and Ontario's Kidney Transplant Programs.
- Ontario's Referral and Listing Guidelines for Kidney Transplant
- Ontario's Referral and Listing Guidelines for Kidney Pancreas Transplant
- Kidney Transplant PDF Referral Form
- Opinion PDF Referral Form
- Ontario Clinical Handbook for Kidney Transplantation
Other Resources:
Post-Transplant Management:
LHSC Guidelines and Protocols:
The following guidelines and protocols were developed by LHSC's Kidney Transplant Team and are specific to the care of LHSC kidney recipients. They may not be applicable for care of recipients transplanted or being followed by other centres.
Following kidney transplantation, recipients will continue to be followed by the LHSC Kidney Transplant Team as well as nephrologists at their referral centre. Any community health care professionals with questions regarding the care of their patients are encouraged to contact the Transplant Team. For urgent issues, any member of the team can be contacted through the hospital switchboard, 519-685-8500.
Other Resources:
Medication Information:
The following include information sheets for all common transplant medications used at LHSC. Recipients are provided with this information following their transplant. The LHSC Transplant Pharmacist is available to answer any further questions and can be contacted by email at transplantmeds@lhsc.on.ca. For urgent issues, any member of the team can be contacted through the hospital switchboard, 519-685-8500.
Patient Resources:
The following are some of the resources provided to LHSC kidney transplant recipients during their assessment, waiting and post-operative transplant periods. A list of all patient resources can be found under Patient Resources.
