Clause 45 - Surplus tissue
Human Tissue Bill
10:30 am
Dr Andrew Murrison (Westbury, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 9, in
clause 45, page 28, line 17, at end insert—
'(3A) Insofar as it would be impracticable to obtain appropriate consent in relation to material to which subsections (2) or (3) apply, it will not be unlawful to make such material available for scheduled purposes.'.
This is a probing amendment. I should be grateful if the Minister would deal with some more definitions. In particular, what does she mean by material ''dealt with as waste''? That question spurred me to table the amendment. Most people, in a utilitarian way, would probably prefer it if surplus material removed from them in the course of a medical procedure could be turned to some good use rather than disposed of. That lies at the heart of the amendment. I hope that the Minister will expound on exactly what the provision means and the circumstances in which it will apply.
I am thinking in particular of procedures such as blood tests, which are carried out many times every hour in the national health service. Parts of the material could be used to good effect for research purposes, even if the primary purpose were investigation. The amendment would allow surplus or waste tissue to be used for other scheduled purposes, with the minimum of bureaucracy and fuss. That would probably be in accordance with the wishes of the vast majority of people in this country.