Uk Transplant Law issue

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Transplant law 'likely to fail'

Legal changes aimed at increasing organ donations are likely to fail

without an overhaul of NHS transplant services, a report by MPs and

peers has warned.

The Human Tissue Act means doctors in England, Wales and Northern

Ireland can take organs from dead donor card carriers even if

families object.

But the All Party Parliamentary Kidney Group (APPKG) said this was

unlikely without staff to deal with relatives.

The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) hopes public faith in the system

would rise.

'Difficult decision'

The More Transplants, Saving More Lives report said surgeons were

unlikely to want confrontation with families unless there were more

back-up staff specially trained to deal sensitively with the

situation.

It added that even if there were more organs available there were

too few transplant surgeons and insufficient laboratory and support

facilities.

Despite the provisions of the Human Tissue Act we do not expect

surgeons to now ignore the strongly-held wishes of relatives

Tim Statham

National Kidney Federation

The APPKG wants to see the number of transplant co-ordinators, who

deal with distressed relatives, increased from 12 to 40 who would

then pass on training to other nurses.

The National Kidney Federation (NKF) has backed the

parliamentarians' report.

Chief executive Tim Statham said: " Despite the provisions of the

Human Tissue Act we do not expect surgeons to now ignore the

strongly-held wishes of relatives.

" It is more likely that the way in which grieving relatives are

approached about transplantation will change.

" It will be important to monitor the impact of these changes on

family refusal rates. "

There are 6,000 patients on the kidney waiting list but only about

1,800 transplants were carried out in the UK last year.

Organ transplant expert Professor Bradley, of Addenbrooke's

Hospital, Cambridge, said without clear guidelines for surgeons they

were unlikely to ignore the wishes of relatives who objected

strongly to donation.

British Transplantation Society trustee Dr Warrens urged the

development of a system that would help grieving families deal with

the difficult decision of whether to agree to the use of an organ.

'Beneficial effect'

The HTA is the regulatory body for the Human Tissue Act which came

into force on 1 September.

An HTA spokesman said: " We have put systems and guidance in place so

that professionals have confidence they are acting within a clear

regulatory framework. As a result we hope that public confidence

will increase.

" We believe that a beneficial effect of the Act will be an increase

in organs available for transplantation. Anything that helps this to

be implemented, within the legislation, is welcomed by us. "

The report also calls for an increase in efforts to identify

suitable donors and transplant patients, and more surgeons to be

trained.

It recommends a rise in donations from people whose heart has

stopped beating which has only recently been made possible by

advances in technology.

The law in Scotland is covered by the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act

which also came into effect on 1 September.