Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-g7rbq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-27T20:21:15.922Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

45 - Transitional guidelines to facilitate changes in procedures for handling ‘surplus’ and archival material from human biological samples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 January 2010

Sue Eckstein
Affiliation:
King's College London
Get access

Summary

Summary of the main recommendations

  1. Procedures should be put in place to allow patients to control the use of surplus tissues left over after diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are complete. In implementing such procedures, care must be taken to minimise disruption to NHS services.

  2. The overall aim of these recommendations should be to seek the explicit consent of all patients to the ethically regulated use of surplus tissues for the benefit of other patients and society as a whole. The system developed for this purpose could also be used to record patients' opinions on a variety of other subjects and hence increase the autonomy of patients, especially for those who subsequently are unable to express an opinion through ill health. However, the implementation of such a system has major resource implications and will take time. These recommendations establish a coherent route towards this goal, which will produce rapid improvements in patient choice and will avoid blocking work which is important to the NHS during the transitional period.

  3. There should be rapid implementation of methods to inform patients of how their surplus tissues may be used, the benefits to society from such use, and the limits and safeguards in place to prevent misuse. Appropriate information sheets should be developed.

  4. […]

  • an additional section on surgical consent forms

  • notice on the walls of phlebotomy rooms and GP surgeries

  • information sheets provided at each contact with the NHS

  • advertisements in the media or a ‘mailshot’ to all homes.

Type
Chapter
Information
Manual for Research Ethics Committees
Centre of Medical Law and Ethics, King's College London
, pp. 300 - 312
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×