Doctors could give transplant patients organs from cancer victims , drug addicts or those with infections under new plans in a bid to battle the shortage of healthy donors . Experts say donor organs are declining in quality with more now coming from the elderly or those damaged by lifestyle . The NHS is trying to increase the numbers of willing organ donors because so many patients are dying waiting for transplants . Doctors could give transplant patients organs from cancer victims , drug addicts , and those with infections under new plans ( file picture ) And one of the plans reportedly been considered is offering patients transplants using organs from people who would have usually had them rejected after being deemed to 'high-risk ' . According to the Sunday Times , the proposals would create a special 'fast track ' waiting list for the high risk organs . Dr Titus Augustine , director of transplantation at Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust , told the newspaper : 'One of the things that we have been looking at is trying to match risk with risk . 'There are people on the lost who are willing to take that risk , accept kidneys from people with known infection risk or cancer risk . ' Organs are deemed high risk if they come from cancer patients , intravenous drug users and those with a history of having high-risk sex lives . However , Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have said they rejected a research proposal looking into high-risk organ donation . A spokesperson said : 'The Trust submits hundreds of research proposals and applications for funding every year . 'This was an application for funding for a research project looking in to offering patients at risk of dying without transplantation organs considered high risk . 'This proposal was rejected by the funding body and therefore will not be progressing any further . ' Darren Hughes , 42 , left , and Robert Stuart , 67 , right , both died after receiving kidneys infected with meningitis-causing parasitic worms . Last year , it emerged that at least a quarter of all transplants that took place last year involved ‘ high-risk ’ organs that could be damaged or infected . Figures obtained from NHS Blood and Transplant , the authority which oversees donations , show that last year , 333 patients were given high-risk organs . This represented a quarter of the 1,320 transplanted and included donors who were former addicts , cancer sufferers or those aged over 71 . The 333 figure was almost certainly an underestimate because it does not include donations from smokers , the obese or the very sexually active who may have HIV or other infections . But Bryon Jaques , who worked for Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals before emigrating to Australia , warned the NHS drive to increase donations was flawed . It comes after it emerged that two patients had died after being given kidneys from a homeless alcoholic infected with a rare parasitic worm . The relatives of Darren Hughes , 42 , and grandfather Robert Stuart , 67 , say they were never told about the lifestyle of the donor by doctors at University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff . Mr Stuart and Mr Hughes both underwent the operations at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff ( pictured ) in 2013 and died within three weeks . The organs belonged to a 39-year-old alcoholic with cirrhosis and had been rejected by hospitals in England and Scotland before they were accepted by the University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff . The man had died of meningitis from an unknown cause and the mystery behind his death had stopped surgeons in Leeds , Newcastle , Sheffield , Birmingham and Edinburgh from accepting his kidneys . Mr Jaques , who is a transplant surgeon and liver specialist , said : ‘ We were regularly offered donors that I considered to be very high risk . We were offered organs of patients who were dying of widespread sepsis ( blood infection ) . ‘ I was offered organs from patients with a history of recent and significant high grade cancer , which has a high risk of transmission . ‘ We were offered livers from patients who were actually dying of liver failure . The vast majority of transplants that do take place in the UK are successful and that ’ s due to the dedication and hard work of the whole transplant community . Last year – 2013/2014 – there were 4,655 transplants , an increase of 10 per cent on the year before .
doctors is trying to increase the number of organ donors due to a shortage . More and more patients are dying while they wait for organ donors . Under new plans , doctors could give patients organs that are ' high - risk ' organs come from cancer victims , drug addicts and those with infections . Comes after figures showed a quarter of organs in 2013 involved ' high - risk ' organs .