Transplantation (Authorisation of Removal of Organs etc) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 9 February 2016.

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Photo of Mike MacKenzie Mike MacKenzie Scottish National Party

As I said, the Scottish Government has informed us that action is already under way to improve the quality of conversations that are held with bereaved families, which could potentially reduce family refusal rates. That seems to me to be the nub of the matter and the reason why many health professionals in the area are cautious about the soft opt-out approach. They feel that introducing an apparent compulsion for organ donation may produce an unfortunate backlash and result in a reduction in the organs that are available for transplants.

The other problematic issue that I must mention is proxies. The tensions and the potential conflict of interest between the authorised investigating person and the specialist nurses in organ donation are a further issue, which has already been mentioned. I cannot see a simple solution for those problems.