1960, First kidney transplant

An Edinburgh doctor, Michael Woodruff, performs the first UK transplant involving an identical set of twins.
The first UK transplant takes place at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on October 30 and involves a set of 49-year-old twins. The procedure is a success, with both donor and recipient living for a further six years before dying of an unrelated illness. Kidney transplants, which for many are a welcome alternative to a lifetime of regular dialysis, now enjoy a high success rate but demand outstrips supply due to an ageing population meaning an increased incidence of renal failure, while the number of donor organs available has fallen.

1962, First hip replacement

First full hip replacement is carried out by Professor John Charnley in Wrightington Hospital.
Charnley begins to devote his energies to developing full hip replacements from 1958 and moves to the Wrightington Hospital where the first full hip replacement takes place. He asks his patients if they mind giving back the hip post-mortem. Apparently 99% of them agree, so his team would regularly collect the replacement hips to check wear and tear, and aid research. He improves his design with a low-friction hip replacement, and in November 1962 the modified Charnley hip replacement becomes a practical reality.

1968, First NHS heart transplant

A 45-year-old man becomes the first Briton to have a heart transplant on 3 May.
Surgeon Donald Ross carries out Britain’s first heart transplant at the National Heart Hospital in Marylebone, London. Ross leads a team of 18 doctors and nurses to operate on the man in the seven-hour procedure. The donor was a 26-year-old labourer called Patrick Ryan. The British operation is the tenth heart transplant to be undertaken in the world since Christiaan Barnard carried out the first in Cape Town, South Africa, in December 1967. The patient dies after 46 days and only six transplants are carried out over the next 10 years.