HSE to ‘sensitively’ dispose of organs retained from 24 postmortems at Crumlin hospital

Plans have been drawn up for the “sensitive” disposal of organs from 24 postmortems conducted at Crumlin children’s hospital before 2020, HSE board members have been told.

The assurance was given by HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster to the board after members expressed concern at a failure to learn from previous reports critical of organ retention policies in the health service.

Mr Gloster told a board meeting that an internal audit in December 2021 found the organs retained at postmortem in Crumlin remained “securely stored” in the department. The organs were from postmortems performed “pre-2020”, he said.

“The retention of organs from the children was the result of a breakdown [or non-commencement] of communication with families or an inadequate capture of information about the family’s wishes regarding organ retention,” said Mr Gloster.

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The Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) executive had given a commitment to completing the process of disposal by the end of this year, he said.

The HSE internal audit was commissioned after it emerged that the organs of 18 children had been incinerated contrary to their parents’ wishes at Cork University Maternity Hospital in March and April 2020.

Controversy over the retention of organs without consent following postmortem in Irish hospitals first emerged in the 1990s following a similar controversy in the UK. A subsequent report identified the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin as having particularly poor practices.

The 2021 audit found the HSE’s policy for postmortem examinations had not been updated for 10 years and did not specify guidelines or timelines for the disposal of organs “where issues arise” as to the final decision.

The board expressed concern at the failure to learn from previous reports and reviews on organ retention, and requested that all other hospitals be asked to confirm they are complying with policy and procedures on the matter.

Mr Gloster said a review of processes at Crumlin hospital’s mortuary had been completed to ensure “this prolonged retention situation cannot recur”. He also promised to seek assurance that all the findings of the internal audit had been implemented.

“A full review of all organs and relevant information has been completed by CHI at Crumlin and a tailored plan has been developed for each individual case,” Mr Gloster told the HSE board.

A project team is in place and communications with affected families were due to begin, Mr Gloster told a meeting of the board last November.

Having been briefed on the issue, the postmortem policy “is being adhered to within the system” and he was “satisfied with compliance”, he said.

The retention of organs at Temple Street Children’s University Hospital “does not exist”, HSE chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry separately told the safety and quality subcommittee of the HSE board.

The Human Tissue Bill, which passed through the Dáil last November, introduces a statutory requirement for consent around organ use as well as safeguards to prevent organ retention without consent in the future.

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