Parents listen to Ms Deacon

Yorkhill NHS Trust in Glasgow has welcomed the establishment of the group, announced by Health Minister Susan Deacon.

But David Lynch, a spokesman for more than 30 parents, said: "The group rejects the minister's proposal because a public inquiry is all we will accept.

"The review group does not go far enough. it is an attempt at a cover-up, it is a complete whitewash.

"We intend to challenge the minister's authority in this matter by petitioning the Scottish Parliament to try to get MSPs to vote for a public inquiry.

"We are calling on the minister to resign. We believe her actions have been totally unprofessional."

Remit set out

The group will be chaired by Professor Sheila McLean, professor of law and ethics in medicine at Glasgow University and director of the Institute of Law and Ethics in Medicine.

The first stage of the review group's work, which is expected to report in January 2001, will:

• Review past practice in order to answer the key questions parents themselves are asking about post-mortem consent, organ retention and the disposal of organs at childrens' hospitals across Scotland.

  This phase of the work will include disclosure of the material retained at these hospitals.

• Develop guidance, in the form of a code of practice, on the sensitive issues related to post-mortem examination.

  This will include consideration of the consent form and explanatory leaflets used by hospitals, and the way in which hospitals handle the process of seeking consent.

The second phase of the group's work will be to examine the present law relating to consent, removal, retention, use and storage of organs, as well as issues relating to the ownership of human tissue and post-mortem procedure.

Ms Deacon said: "The practice which was followed in the past was unacceptable. The loss of a child is a terrible and painful tragedy at any time.

"Parents must be provided with adequate information to agree, or not to agree, to the removal, retention or storage of their child's organs."

Earlier this month she ruled out a public inquiry into organ retention at Yorkhill Hospital, but vowed it would never be allowed to happen again.

Yorkhill has apologised for parents' distress

In a statement, the Yorkhill NHS Trust acknowledged the shortcomings of post-mortem consent arrangements in the past and "deeply regretted" the distress caused to families.

"We offer unreserved apology to any and every parent or family member with whom we failed to discuss these matters with sufficient openness at the timeof their bereavement," it said.

"Yorkhill, along with other hospitals, has reviewed its past practices and has sought to address sympathetically and openly the concerns, distresss and sometimes understandable anger of affected parents.

"During 1999, Yorkhill completely revised its consent arrangements to ensure that parents are fully aware of the nature and consequences of a post-mortem examination and the trust is firmly committed to ensure that all consent is fully informed."

Second funeral

Earlier this week, a mother won permission to reclaim body parts from her twins which were retained at Yorkhill after post-mortem examinations carried out on the instructions of the procurator-fiscal.

Linda Dunn plans a second funeral to bury the tissue samples in the cemetery plot where babies Robert and Scott Shanks were laid to rest.

Mrs Dunn was finally told on Wednesday she could collect the remains from two Glasgow hospitals.

She was among many families left devastated earlier this year when it was revealed medics removed organs, including brains, from infants who had died. Most of the organs were later destroyed.

However she learned that other parts of organs had been kept and demanded them back from Yorkhill Hospital and the Southern General.

Mrs Dunn's lawyer, compensation expert Cameron Fyfe, revealed she was among five families suing Yorkhill.

Mr Fyfe is claiming damages as a result of the stress, trauma and anxiety suffered by families who found out parts were removed from the bodies of their children without permission.

Yorkhill is running a parent information telephone line on 0141 201 9278.