Anonymised transcripts from a research project on patient and transplant staff experiences with liver transplantation and the transplant benefit score

The Transplant Benefit Score (TBS) was introduced in the UK in March 2018 as a method of allocating DBD (donation after brain death) livers for transplantation. The TBS is both far more algorithmically complex than the previous system of allocation, and offers less clinician autonomy in allocation decisions, with livers being matched to particular patients from a national database. The TBS has been the subject of recent media attention, with pieces from BBC News and The Financial Times questioning its fairness and comprehensibility. This data set is the result of a qualitative empirical research project which interviewed 20 patients and 9 transplant staff on their perspectives on the TBS. The project considers the ethics of involving complex algorithmic systems in high stakes resource allocation. The data set includes participant perspectives on information disclosure and patient consent, trust, distributive justice, the staff-patient relationship, the clinical role, amongst other topics.