Umbilical cord blood, commonly referred to as ‘cord blood’, is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta following childbirth. Cord blood can be used to treat and cure many life-threatening diseases. Cord blood may be collected at the time of birth and stored, so that it is available for the potential future treatment of the child or another person.
These guides set out your basic rights when dealing with an establishment regulated by the HTA.
The guides also explain how the use of human tissue is regulated in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. This includes who can give consent for different activities, the information you should receive and options for using and disposing of tissue.
There are eight guides in total, each relating to the Codes of Practice we provide to professionals.
Our role is to provide an independent check to help protect the interests of living organ donors. They ensure each individual donor has an opportunity to speak freely to someone not connected with the transplant unit in order to confirm that:
There are a number of different types of living organ donation, some of which involve a donor and recipient coming together either because of a pre-existing relationship or through a third party and others where the donor and recipient(s) are matched by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). The information below provides an overview of the types of living organ donation which you may wish to consider if you are thinking about becoming a living organ donor.
Once a donor has been deemed medically and clinically suitable to donate by their medical practitioner the donor will be required to attend an independent assessment. An independent assessment is an interview which is carried out by an Independent Assessor (IA) who is trained and accredited by the HTA. The IA interviews the donor and recipient both separately and together on behalf of the HTA and is independent of the healthcare teams who are involved with the medical process.
On this page you will find information for potential donors, their recipients recipients and those setting up websites that aim to bring these people together on how the system works in the UK and issues to consider.