Organ Removal

EDM number 139 in 1999-00, proposed by Roger Godsiff on 06/12/1999.

That this House condemns unequivocally the recent practice in a number of NHS hospitals, which include the Bristol Royal Infirmary, Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool and the Birmingham Children's Hospital, of removing organs and whole body systems for storage and research without the consent of the parents involved; welcomes the speedy response from the Secretary of State for Health in establishing an independent inquiry into the events at Alder Hey Hospital; notes, however, that Stephen Gold, the pathologist brought into to conduct the investigation at Alder Hey, has acknowledged that his remit is too narrow, particularly in respect of the role played by Professor Van Velzen, former head of the post-mortem team; further notes the remarks of the Chief Medical Officer made on Saturday's Today programme to the effect that it is illegal to retain organs from any coroner's post-mortem for research purposes; and believes that the further pain and suffering of the parents involved can best be alleviated by a full public inquiry which embraces all the hospitals involved with a particular focus on how doctors can operate, apparently without the knowledge of NHS managers, in a way destined to cause so much pain to already bereaved parents.

This motion has been signed by a total of 28 MPs, 1 of these signatures have been withdrawn.