Under the Human Tissue Act 2004, any potential donation of bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) from adults who lack capacity to consent and children who lack competence to consent, must be assessed by an Accredited Assessor (AA) and a report submitted to the HTA for decision.
The HTA trains AAs to assess potential bone marrow and PBSC donations from adults who lack capacity and children who lack competence to consent. Once accredited by the HTA, AAs act as a representative for the donor and the HTA.
If you are interested in applying to become an AA, but unsure whether you meet the requirements, you should read the AA role specification and contact the Stem Cell Coordinator at your nearest stem cell unit in the first instance.
If you wish to proceed, you will need to complete an Application Form, which must include details of a referee to support your application (usually Head of Department or line manager), and submit it to the HTA. The HTA will only accept applications from people where a Stem Cell Coordinator has confirmed there is a need for additional AAs to be trained for their unit.
The will review the application and request a reference. Once a satisfactory reference has been received, the individual will be contacted with details of the next training event. All AAs receive training from the HTA and this allows them to conduct interviews for all bone marrow and PBSC cases.
Before AAs start conducting interviews, a current enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate or Protection of Vulnerable Groups check must be in place. After the training, the HTA will apply for an enhanced DBS check for the AAs based in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. If the applicant has a valid enhanced DBS check issued within the last 6 months of the AA training, the HTA will accept this as a valid check.
For AAs based in Scotland, individual Health Boards will be requested to apply for their PVG checks.
It is recommended that once accredited, AAs observe an AA interview with an experienced AA at their transplant unit.
For enquiries about the AA role, the person specification, or further information on how to apply to become an AA, please email transplants@hta.gov.uk or call 020 7269 1900.
It is important that the AAs are independent of the transplant unit, the donor, person consenting on behalf of the donor and recipient. This independence allows the HTA to fulfil its role to help protect the interests of the donors by ensuring they or the person consenting on behalf of the donor have the opportunity to speak freely to someone not connected with the transplant unit, confirming that the donation is free from any pressure to act against their will.
AAs come from varied backgrounds and do not need to be medically qualified. Our current AAs include Consultants, nurses and retired healthcare staff.
A potential AA must possess the following skills:
- excellent oral and written communication skills;
- IT literate with an ability to grasp new systems;
- excellent interpersonal skills;
- confidence in interviewing patients and exploring and addressing health issues and health risks;
- familiar with requirements to maintain patient confidentiality;
- the ability to work confidently in a hospital environment;
- experience of report writing to a high standard; and
- familiar with equality and diversity legislation.
The Human Tissue Act 2004 (Persons who Lack Capacity to Consent and Transplants) Regulations 2006 (Regulations) require that an AA must have conducted separate interviews with the donor, the person giving consent on the donor’s behalf and the recipient in order to gather the material that must be reported to the HTA.
The purpose of the interviews is to ensure that donors are not forced to do something against their wishes, that no reward has been sought or offered and that the person consenting on the donor’s behalf has the capacity to make an informed decision. When children are involved, the AA will interview the donor and recipient in a way which reflects the child’s level of understanding to an age-appropriate level.
It is a criminal offence to carry out a transplant operation between two living people if the conditions of the HT Act are not met. This means valid consent must have been given.