Human Tissue Authority

The Human Tissue Authority is a UK Non-Departmental Public Body created by the Human Tissue Act 2004. It exists to regulate the removal, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue for a number of scheduled purposes such as research, transplantation, and education and training.

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It came into being on April 1, 2005 and its statutory functions began on April 1, 2006. As of 2006, the authority was chaired by Baroness Hayman and since December 2006 has been chaired by Shirley Harrison.

Its objectives are to:

...be the regulating authority for matters relating to activities such as anatomical and post-mortem examinations, transplantations and the storage of human material for education, training and research.

It also acts as the UK competent authority under the EU Tissue and Cells Directive.

The Human Tissue Act

The Human Tissue Act 2004 repeals and replaces the Human Tissue Act 1961, the Anatomy Act 1984 and the Human Organ Transplants Act 1989 as they relate to England and Wales, and the corresponding Orders in Northern Ireland. The Unrelated Transplant Regulatory Authority (ULTRA) and the post of HM Inspector of Anatomy will be abolished and their functions transferred to the Authority.

The Act makes consent the fundamental principle underpinning the lawful storage and use of body parts, organs and tissue from the living or the deceased for specified health-related purposes and public display. It also covers the removal of such material from the deceased. It lists the purposes for which consent is required (the scheduled purposes).

Code of Conduct, and Jurisdiction

According to the Human Tissue Act, the HTA and its authority are governed by a code of conduct[1] for the handling of human tissue, and the bodies of the deceased, but does not give the HTA authority over exhumed remains from archaeological sites.

"The Human Tissue Act (HT Act) 2004 established the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) as the regulatory body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for all matters concerning the removal, retention, use and disposal of human tissue (excluding gametes and embryos) for specified purposes. This includes responsibility for licensing the public display of whole bodies, body parts and human tissue from the deceased (if they died after 1 September 1906)." [2]

The Act governs England, Wales and Northern Ireland. There is separate legislation in Scotland, the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006 and the Authority will perform certain tasks on behalf of the Scottish Executive (approval of living donation and licensing of establishments storing tissue for human application).

The Authority

The Authority consists of a Chair and fourteen members who have been appointed by the Secretary of State for Health. They come from a variety of medical, scientific, legal, administrative and political backgrounds.

The Chair and six of the members are lay (i.e. without a professional interest in the area of human tissue). The remaining eight members are professionals drawn from some of the groups most directly affected by the Act. The Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Office has each nominated one member.

• Ms Shirley Harrison (Chair)
• Professor James Ironside (Deputy Chair)
• Mr Adrian McNeil (Chief Executive)

You can read the biographies for each Authority member on the official website [3]