Andrew Bingham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bingham on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on allowing the transplant of organs from people deceased outside of hospital.

Jane Ellison

Organ donation following death outside of hospital is not broadly practiced in the United Kingdom. For organs to remain viable and suitable for transplantation, they must either be kept supplied with oxygen, blood and nutrients, or kept cold so that the metabolism of the cells is slowed right down. When someone’s heart stops beating suddenly, the blood supply to organs stop and the cells begin to get starved of oxygen and nutrients and start to die. Therefore, there is a very narrow window of a few minutes between the heart stopping beating and the need for organs to be removed and preserved.

A pilot programme is underway in Edinburgh for retrieval of organs from those who suffer a witnessed cardiac arrest from which they are unable to be resuscitated and are brought within minutes to the hospital. NHS Blood and Transplant is supporting this pilot and, depending on the outcome, will support further similar initiatives.

Additionally, health care professionals need to obtain consent and get a full medical history to ensure the organs are suitable for transplantation.