Background
The HTA was established on 1 April 2005 under the Human Tissue Act 2004 (HT Act), which extends to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The HTA is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body (ENDPB) sponsored by the Department of Health.
The Authority’s Chair and members were appointed by the Secretary of State for Health.
The Authority is supported by an Executive of 42 staff.
The HTA has two principal statutory functions. The first is to inform the public and the Secretary of State for Health about issues within our remit. We will fulfil this remit by issuing Codes of Practice including:
- Consent
- Donation of solid organs, tissue and cells for transplantation
- Post mortem examination
- Anatomical examination
- Removal, storage and disposal of human organs and tissue
- Donation of allogenic bone marrow, periperhal blood stem cells and donor lymphocytes for transplantation
- Public display
- Import and export of human bodies, body parts and tissue
The second of our principal statutory remits is to license and inspect the:
- storage of human bodies for anatomical examination;
- carrying out of post mortem examinations;
- removal of tissue from the body of a deceased person for Scheduled Purposes except transplantation;
- storage and use of human bodies or parts for public display; and
- storage of human tissue for other scheduled purposes, for example research.
The HTA is the Competent Authority under the EU Tissue and Cells Directive for regulating human application establishments.
The HTA is also responsible for approving donation of solid organs and bone marrow from living donors.