Organs removed from dead patients without family consent after NHS blunder

Hundreds of thousands of people have been caught up in an astonishing NHS blunder that saw organs being taken from dead patients and used without their consent.

Donors who expressly stated they did not want certain body parts taken after their death had their details changed so their records showed any of their organs could be removed.

Now more than 21 bereaved families will be contacted by health officials to be told the disturbing news that tissue was mistakenly taken from their loved ones.

[caption]

[caption]

The error, which affected 800,000 people, happened when details concerning the body parts that donors do not want to be removed was deleted from the NHS Organ Donor Register.

Some people specifically request not to have their eyes or heart removed after their death even if they are happy for other tissue to be donated. But these details have been

wiped from the records of 812,000 people over the course of the last decade - although the mistake has only just come to light.

Critics said the blunder was another example of the Government's 'lax' attitude to sensitive data. The NHS is under pressure to increase the number of organ donors as the number of seriously ill people on the transplant waiting list has risen from 5,700 in 2004 to more than 8,000 last year.

The number of people joining the register is not keeping pace with the demands - last year it rose by just 7 per cent. Now, according to NHS Blood and Transplant, which holds the Organ Donor Register, there are at least 21 cases where the deceased's body parts were removed without their consent.

Officials will now contact their relatives and apologise.

It is illegal to remove body tissue without a person's prior consent or that of their next-of-kin.

Families of those involved face agonising guilt as they would have given permission for their loved ones' organs to be removed - based on wrong information about their final wishes. Health Secretary Andy Burnham has ordered an investigation and said he 'deeply regretted' the distress caused to those involved.

The error occurred when information was being transferred from the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority to the NHS Blood and Transplant database.



There is a section in the DVLA's driving licence application form which asks people if they want to become organ donors. Up to half of Britain's 17million donors have signed up this way. Some 28 per cent of British adults are registered - many of whom carry a 'donor card'.

But most major organs can only be used if a person dies in hospital as body tissue deteriorates rapidly.

The mistake only came to light after NHS Blood and Transplant wrote to new donors last year thanking them and clarifying their exact wishes.

Several wrote back to say the details were wrong.

Officials then trawled through records and identified 45 cases whereby a donor had died in a situation where their organs were suitable to be removed.

In just under half of these cases, body parts had been used despite the donor specifically requesting they did not want them used.

An NHS Blood and Transplant spokesman said yesterday: 'There are a small number of cases, 21 over the past six years, where the person has died and their preferences may not have been correctly recorded.



In each case the family gave permission for the donation to take place, but it may not have been in line with the individual's preferences. 'We sincerely apologise for any distress this may have caused.'

Patients' groups reacted angrily. Joyce Robins, of Patient Concern said: 'It is absolutely dreadful that such sensitive details are handled in such a careless way.'

Dylan Sharpe, of Big Brother Watch, said: 'This is further evidence that the Government takes a very lax attitude when handling our personal data.

'Yet they continue to try and build an enormous database containing all our medical records.'

If your family has been affected by the NHS organ donor blunder call the Daily Mail's newsdesk on 02070938 6063





