Brain and spinal cord donation for hospital and mortuary staff
Many people, with the agreement of their relatives, want to support research into dementia and other brain diseases by donating their brain to a brain bank for research.
Brain banks encourage potential donors to provide written consent while they are alive so that brain donation can proceed smoothly after they have died. Donated brains can only be retrieved on premises licensed by the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) for removal and storage of tissues for use for research (see 1 below). Most of these premises are mortuaries in NHS hospitals.
To ensure that brains are in the best condition to be used for research, retrieval should ideally take place as soon as possible after death. Whilst brain donation proceeds smoothly in many cases, there have been occasions where a brain has not been retrieved because mortuary staff have been uncertain about whether they could assist, or felt that the “green form” was required before the donation could go ahead. Sometimes they are worried that proceeding with the retrieval will interfere with the work of the Coroner. If this happens, it can cause a great deal of distress to families and can result in a wasted donation.
This guidance document for mortuary and other hospital staff has been prepared by the MRC UK Brain Bank Network in collaboration with the Human Tissue Authority. We hope it will provide clarity and reassurance about whether retrieval can take place, with the aim of avoiding the unnecessary distress caused to families when the wishes of their loved ones cannot be fulfilled. It has the support of the Chief Coroner, who encourages organ donation wherever possible for the benefit of research and the greater public good.