Organ scandal victims remembered

The organs of dead children were kept by the hospital

More than 1,000 people attended a memorial service for the victims of the Alder Hey organ scandal.

The service at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral - entitled Honouring the Memory - gave families the opportunity to share their anger and grief in the aftermath of the controversy, in which organs were removed from thousands of dead children's bodies without parental consent.

Included in the event was a procession by six youngsters carrying baskets laden with the names of more than 1,000 children who had organs removed at the hospital.

The doctor at the centre of the Liverpool hospital scandal, Professor Dick van Velzen, was suspended by the General Medical Council (GMC) last February.

Professor van Velzen: At centre of scandal

The service was being led by the Right Rev James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool, the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, and Moderator of the URC Mersey Synod, the Rev Graham Cook.

The Redfern inquiry, published in January, said organs had been stripped from dead children at the hospital over seven years.

In some cases, it was many years after their child's death that parents learnt organs had been kept.

Some families have been forced to hold multiple funerals as lungs, brains, hearts and other organs were returned to them.

Investigation

More than 1,000 affected families applied for tickets, but a small number have been made available for the general public.

The GMC's professional conduct committee is investigating Professor van Velzen's work.

If found guilty of serious professional misconduct he could be permanently removed from the medical register.