WHY?

P
I
T
Y
II

Dear Mrs. Procter,

Thank you for your letter of 31 December to Alan Milburn concerning organ retention issues and about new legislation in particular. I apologise for the delay in replying.

You are concerned because the planned Human Organs and Tissue Bill was not mentioned in the Queen's Speech. Let me reassure you that this does not mean that our commitment to new legislation in this area has been reduced in any way.

As you rightly point out, much has already been done both within the Department of Health itself and by The Retained Organs Commission to address the very complex and sensitive issues in this area. I hope that you and other parents directly affected by organ retention take some comfort from knowing that families now receive better help and support when a post-mortem examination takes place and that valid consent should now be part of this process in all cases.

However, any new legislation takes time and, as you know from your close involvement in our consultation and workshops on "Human Bodies, Human Choices" the revisions to the law needed in this area are numerous and wide-ranging.

Nevertheless, although I am unable to give you a date at present, I can assure you that our commitment remains firm. New legislation on organs and tissue will be brought forward as soon as parliamentary time allows and we will make an announcement about the timing as soon as possible.

Yours

David Lammy.

PITY II (Parents who have Interred Their Young Twice) is the parents' support group set up in the wake of the organ retention scandal
at Alder Hey Hospital (Liverpool, UK). It aims to provide self help support and advice to affected families.

Keywords: PITY II, pity II, pity ii, PITY 2, PITY2, pity 2, pity2, Never Again, never again, DNA, Myrtle Street, poem, poetry, honouring the memory, memorial, Law Reform, Liverpool, liverpool, organ, retention, alder hey, heart, inquiry, Redfern, redfern, scandal, support, children, Retained Organs Commission, ROC, coroners, Litigation & Mediation