Dr Peter Rowe from the South West Transplant Centre at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, explains the need for kidney transplants as a preferred option to dialysis.
On tonight's ITV News West Country at 6pm we have a full report on a kidney transplant from a living donor - a type of surgery pioneered at Derriford Hospital.
On ITV News West Country tonight at 6pm, we look at kidney donations from living donors. Most "live" donations are within families but there are a small number of altruistic donors who donate one of their kidneys to a person they don't know who's waiting on the transplant list.
Derriford Hospital in Plymouth is one of the pioneers of this type of transplant. Our Health Correspondent Jacquie Bird has been to watch one - watch her full report on tonight's programme.
A 23 year old West Country woman has had a double mastectomy because she was so scared she would get cancer. Fiona Luscombe took the agonising decision after both her mother and grandfather both died from breast cancer.
The nursery worker decided to go ahead with the operation after discovering she too was carrying a hereditary cancer-carrying gene.
People in Cornwall have the chance to question health chiefs about plans to introduce regional pay scales in the NHS at a public meeting this Friday (September 21st). It's been organised by West Cornwall Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George.
He's concerned that abolishing national pay scales could lead to an exodus of health workers from Cornwall. The meeting called The Future Of The NHS In The West will take place at St John's Hall in Penzance at 7.30pm.
A Westcountry charity has revealed what a holiday retreat it hopes to build for terminally ill children will look like.
Read the full storyA woman from Honiton is celebrating a year since she had a double lung transplant.
Twelve months ago Kirstie Tancock was on a life support machine.
Kirstie is calling on people to sign the organ donation register, as part of National Transplant Week.
A West Country MP is backing a regional campaign for cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging. Mel Stride says branding plays an important part in persuading people to smoke.
The campaign has got the backing of a teenager from the region whose father and two grandparents died from smoking-related lung cancer. Ken Goodwin reports.
England rugby legend Matt Dawson might be better known of late for his television work, but he's been in the region today to open a new Children's unit at North Devon District Hospital. The star of Question of Sport also won Celebrity Masterchef.
He's now come up with his own range of recipes for healthy eating, particularly in hospital. Seth Conway's report contains flash photography.
Torbay Hospital has beaten hundreds of other hospitals to be ‘highly commended’ at a prestigious event recognising the best in patient safety.
South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, the trust which runs Torbay Hospital, received the ‘_Highly Commended’ award for its Ward Improvement Programme, improving safety, effectiveness and efficiency on wards.
– Liz Childs, Director of Nursing at Torbay HospitalI am absolutely delighted that the Trust has been highly commended in this category. Not only is it great news for the Trust; it is also good news for our patients and sends a clear message that the Trust takes the issue of patient safety very seriously.
The awards were presented by the Nursing Times and Health Service Journal.
Doctors in Exeter and Torbay have saved the lives of 31 men through a special screening programme which detects a silent killer.
They've been calling men over the age of 65 for a special test to see if they are in danger of having an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which could cause them to drop dead with no warning. Our health correspondent Jacquie Bird reports
