Taoiseach criticises hospitals over ‘inappropriate’ disposal of organs without knowledge of parents

The Taoiseach has criticised the public hospital system for disposing of infants’ organs without the knowledge of their parents, saying that it was “wrong and inappropriate” and should not be happening in modern-day Ireland.

Micheál Martin offered his deepest sympathies to the families involved and said it had been “distressing” for them to learn that their children’s organs had been disposed of without their knowledge and it was “unacceptable” that their grief was compounded in this way.

Speaking during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil on Wednesday, Mr Martin said it was “difficult to comprehend” that hospitals were still, albeit on a small scale, engaging in practices such as incineration or retention of organs beyond the timelines they are meant to adhere to. He said it was “unacceptable” that there was no proper consultation or engagement about this.

Mr Martin referred to the controversy that arose last year at Cork University Hospital and Cork University Maternity Hospital where it emerged that perinatal organs removed at postmortem had been sent for incineration on two occasions in March and April 2020. Eighteen bereaved couples had given prior permission for the hospital to arrange for the disposal of retained organs with the clear expectation that they would be buried or cremated, only to learn later that they had been incinerated.

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The Taoiseach said an audit completed by HSE in relation to certain hospitals, obtained by The Irish Times under Freedom of Information legislation, should be published “without delay”, while a review into the situation at Cork University Hospital “should be absolutely prioritised by the HSE”.

Mr Martin also said the Human Tissue Bill, which would include a legislative framework around human organs and tissue taken at postmortem, needs to be published as soon as possible.

“I spoke to the Minister this morning and the Attorney General and I made it clear that I want that legislation published in September,” he added.

The HSE has pledged to rectify failings in its systems after the internal audit of practices across 25 public hospitals between 2018 and last year identified concerns about the management and disposal of organs at several sites.

“We’ve seen some failings and we’re fixing those,” Liam Woods, HSE director of acute services, told RTÉ Radio’s News at One.

He added that the purpose of the audit, involving a sample of the 5,000 or so postmortems carried out each year, was to assess compliance with 2012 HSE guidelines which were reviewed in 2015. He said that among the “drivers of difficulties” identified in the audit were the challenges of recruiting clinical staff, some of whom had to be trained abroad, and issues with policy and legislation.

The audit identified several sites where there were concerns about the management of organs and where action was required as soon as possible. Earlier instances of concern were also identified before 2017, which he said would require further examination.

It found that inappropriate organ disposal methods were noted at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. In the case of UHL, it was established that it was hospital policy to incinerate organs retained at postmortem, and mortuary records identified two cases where organs had been incinerated since 2019.

At Drogheda, records indicated that retained organs were being incinerated until 2020, with cases of three adult organs and one of perinatal organ being disposed of by incineration between 2018 and last year. Separately, the audit found that records were not available to verify the disposal method associated with one organ at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown in 2019.

It was found that organs were not disposed of as required by policy at the aforementioned three hospitals.

The audit also found there were significant delays in relation to the sensitive disposal of perinatal organs removed during postmortems by a retired perinatal pathologist working on an ad hoc basis for the HSE and identified in the report as Consultant A.

The audit found that organs were retained for more than one year after 24 separate postmortems at Crumlin Children’s Hospital, one of which dated back to 2000. Ten organs were retained for more than a year at St Colmcille’s Hospital and St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin.

It found that Galway University Hospital retained perinatal organs for more than a year in 28 cases, with the date range extending from 12 months to 32 months between 2018 and last year. All but four have since been disposed of.