Supporting medical research - the options available
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- Supporting medical research - the options available
For example, if you were to join the Organ Donor Register, your donated tissue could help as many as 50 people. If you were to donate your whole body for research, you could help the doctors of tomorrow to learn advanced surgical techniques and to conduct research into disease prevention and treatment.
On this page:
Organ donation
Registering as a donor
Helping medical teaching and research
Post mortem examination
Whole body donation
What happens to the body?
What about the funeral?
The NHS Organ Donor Register is a confidential list of everyone willing to donate their organs. It holds all the names on a computer, replacing the donor card scheme.
Organs such as the heart and liver can only be donated when a person dies in hospital, as the blood must be kept circulating through the organ for it to remain viable. However, tissue such as bone, skin and heart valves can be donated up to 48 hours after a death.
If you were one of the millions of people who previously carried a donor card, it's wise to check that you are registered.
Simply call the NHS Organ Donor Line on 0845 6060400 or visit http://www.uktransplant.org.uk/.
You can also express your wishes by:
- Including them in a Will.
- Making a written record of your preferences to reassure your family that you have thought about your wishes carefully. Tell someone where his document is kept.
- Telling someone verbally; normally your next of kin or someone you have appointed to make medical decisions on your behalf.
Helping medical teaching and research
There are two main ways to help doctors and medical researchers to advance their learning for the benefit of patients:
- Post mortem examination
- Whole body donation
You can help doctors to learn more about the medical conditions you have experienced by agreeing in advance to a post mortem examination, after which your body is returned to your family or executors for burial or cremation.
Most post mortem examinations usually take place in the hospital where a person has died. If a person has suffered from a rare condition, some tissues and/or organs may be transferred to a specialist research centre, and they may keep some samples for further investigation.
If you are receiving hospital treatment, ask your specialist consultant about this so that any particular instructions can be given to your family for when they need them.
If you wish to donate your whole body for medical training or research, it is essential that you make this known in writing, and that this is witnessed.
The Human Tissue Authority has created a form for this, which you can download from their website - http://www.hta.gov.uk/.
You should also inform your next of kin and the executor of your Will - neither of whom are permitted to arrange whole body donation if you have not given consent yourself.
Those making the arrangements should contact the nearest Medical School as soon as possible after death.
They will provide advice and information on what happens next.
To find your nearest Medical School, call the Human Tissue Authority on 0207 211 3400 or visit www.hta.gov.uk/.
If the person has not died in hospital, those making the arrangements should ask a funeral director to store the body as soon as possible, explaining what is intended.
Please be aware, it is not possible to know in advance whether a medical school will be able to make use of a body as this will depend on current needs and the circumstances and cause of death.
Where there is a whole body donation, the funeral is usually arranged by the medical school - typically around two years after the donation.
Memorial services are arranged on a regular basis and family members are invited to attend.