The retrieval team travels to the donor centre, which could be anywhere in the country.
At any one time just three cardio-thoracic (heart and lung) retrieval teams are on duty, serving the UK’s six centres.
The staff generally have to live within 30 minutes of the hospital.
“Once they get a call, within 60 minutes they need to leave the hospital to go to the retrieval centre,” explains Mr Mehta.
“So that includes travelling time to the hospital, collecting all the equipment, collecting the preservative solutions, the instruments… we have to carry all the equipment we need for the operation with us.”
The journey back with the heart is even more critical.
Transplant co-ordinator Jane takes a phone call and has an urgent conversation with Prof Venkateswaran. The vehicle carrying the heart is stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway.
The professor gives his permission for the vehicle to “come on blues” – turn the siren and flashing lights on – to clear the way.
Just over an hour later, Jane gets the call that the heart is now half an hour away.
Prof Venkateswaran begins to cut out the patient’s own heart. Blood is now being pumped around her body by a bypass machine.
Suddenly, there’s another phone call. It turns out the M60 is shut and the retrieval team has to divert off the motorway and come through central Manchester.
Jane relays the information. Fortunately it is now late at night and the roads are relatively quiet.
“They’re five, maybe 10 minutes away,” says Jane.