In England, Wales, Northern Ireland and probably Scotland, next of kin cannot give permission. Permission can be given by the consultant in charge of the patient if he/she thinks that it is in the best interest of the patient or society. The consultant in charge will have to personally justify this decision e.g. if the patient subsequently sues over infringement of civil rights. If the consultant is not willing to authorise release then a court order is required. The laboratory is custodian and not the owner of the sample and therefore can never decide unilaterally to hand the samples over to the police. The laboratory has specific legal duties during all of this especially once a sample has been officially identified.
I attach our Trust protocol which our solicitors appear to be happy with. The document, according to Dr Solomon, is virus free but an earlier version was posted on the ACB document exchange http://www.acb.org.uk/docex/ - I will update this site via the site master.
Martin Myers
Preston and Chorley Hospitals
-----Original Message-----
From: p=NHS NATIONAL
INT;a=NHS;c=GB;dda:RFC-822=acb-clin-chem-gen-request(a)mailbase.ac.uk;
Sent: 11 October 2000 11:51
To: p=NHS NATIONAL
INT;a=NHS;c=GB;dda:RFC-822=acb-clin-chem-gen(a)mailbase.ac.uk;
Subject: Police Requests for Samples
We have clear local guidelines for releasing samples to the police when the
patient is able to give his/her written permission but not infrequently are
asked to hand over specimens when the patient is unable to do this. For
example, he or she might be unconscious.
Is the permission of the next of kin acceptable in such cases or should we,
as I suspect, insist on a court order ?
Dr David Hullin
Department of Clinical Biochemistry
Royal Glamorgan Hospital
Llantrisant
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