Written consent required for post mortems

Organs are vital for research

Hospitals have been ordered to obtain clear and detailed consent from families for post mortem examinations of their relatives.

Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer for England, issued new guidance on the issue on Friday.

Inquiries into malpractice at Bristol Royal Infirmary and Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Merseyside revealed that the practice of removing and storing organs without consent had been widespread throughout the NHS.

Those scandals deterred some families from donating tissues, with paediatric pathology research, which could help doctors find out more about disease, dramatically reduced.

Seeking patient or family consent is not an optional extra but an integral part of good clinical care

Professor Sir Liam Donaldson

The current legal situation regarding the use of organs for medical research is unclear, and new legislation to make the procedure more transparent is pending.

However, the new guidance has been issued as an interim measure until a new law can be passed.

It comes with an explanatory video for bereaved parents, and a new style consent form.

Balance to be struck

Sir Liam said: "This post mortem guidance seeks to strike a balance between the rights of families to choose whether to donate organs and tissue and meeting the needs of medical science and research.

"Seeking patient or family consent is not an optional extra but an integral part of good clinical care.

"Concerns about the circumstances in which some human organs and tissue have been removed have tended to overshadow the potentially beneficial uses of post mortems.

"Developments in the treatment of cancer and heart disease have been assisted by the availability of human tissue for investigation and research."

The guidance has been drawn up after extensive consultation with medical experts, health managers, coroners and representatives of bereaved families.

Sir Liam said a draft Human Organs and Tissue Bill would be published as soon as parliamentary time allows.

It will include a regulatory framework and penalties to ensure oversight and compliance.

Professor James Underwood, president of The Royal College of Pathologists, said the new guidelines closely reflected the college's own.

"Bereaved relatives can now have a better understanding of the purpose of post-mortem examinations, and pathologists can be more confident that consent has been properly obtained."