Health Committee recommends support for the Human Tissue (Scotland) Bill

CHEAL012/2005 | 22 November 2005

The Health Committee today recommended that the Scottish Parliament supports the Scottish Executive’s Human Tissue (Scotland) Bill during the Stage 1 debate on the general principles of the Bill, expected to take place next week.

Whilst the committee expresses support for the Bill, its Stage 1 Report also sets out a series of recommendations about how the Bill might be improved by amendment. Similarly, it makes a number of recommendations about action required for effective implementation of the Bill, particularly for the promotion of public and professional awareness of the Bill’s provisions.

The Human Tissue (Scotland) Bill proposes a new framework for organ donation and transplantation; for post-mortem examination and associated retention of body parts; and for anatomical examination and the public display of dead bodies.

Convener of the Health Committee, Roseanna Cunningham MSP, said:

”The Human Tissue (Scotland) Bill deals with important issues which need to be handled sensitively.

“Our committee expresses sincere sympathy with those whose trust was breached by the medical professionals who failed to understand or respect the rights of parents to authorise procedures on their deceased children.

“We consider it very important that sound information is provided to all involved in the authorisation process and recommend the Scottish Executive ensures appropriate information, guidance and support are available to bereaved families faced with difficult decisions.”

The committee expresses support for the framework for advance authorisation for organ donation and post-mortem set out in the Bill, and welcomes its clarification of the role of relatives where there is no advance authorisation.

The committee also makes a series of constructive recommendations, including:

• Information and awareness-raising activity is undertaken to ensure individuals know the action they should take to ensure their wishes can be respected.

• Production of clear guidance on how to proceed on disputes between parents with regards to parental authorisations.

• Reconsideration by the Scottish Executive to address concerns about the absence of fail-safe mechanisms which would allow individuals to records their wishes on organ donation across the range of circumstances dealt with in the Bill. In particular, the committee recommends that specific reference to the NHS Organ Donor Register is made on the face of the Bill.

Background

The Human Tissue (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 3 June 2005 by the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care, Lewis Macdonald MSP.

The Human Tissue (Scotland) Bill proposes a new framework for organ donation and transplantation; for post-mortem examinations and the associated removal, retention and use of body parts; and for anatomical examination and the public display of bodies and body parts.

The contact for members of the media is:

Sally Coyne Tel: 0131 348 6269
email: sally.coyne@scottish.parliament.uk

Health Committee contact information

For public information enquiries, contact: 0131 348 5000 or 0845 278 1999 (local call rate)
Text phone: 0131 348 3415 RNID Typetalk calls welcome
email: sp.info@scottish.parliament.uk

Visit our website at: www.scottish.parliament.uk