§ Sir Eldon Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what evidence he has of kidneys being purchased from India for use in transplant operations in Britain; and what steps he is taking to ensure that all donated kidneys used within the National Health Service have been procured without pressure on the donors.
§ Mr. WhitneyWe have no evidence that kidneys have been purchased from India, although there have been allegations that private patients from the Indian subcontinent given transplants in this country have paid donors from their own areas to accompany them and provide a kidney. Details of these allegations have been made available to the General Medical Council, which has issued interim advice to doctors that
478WIt is unethical and improper for a registered medical practitioner, wittingly or unwittingly, to encourage or take part in any way in the development of such trafficking in the sale of human organs; and that, accordingly, no surgeon should undertake the transplantation of a non-regenerative organ from a living donor without first making due inquiry to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the donor's consent has not been given as a result of any form of undue influence".We have already condemned the abhorrent practice of selling organs for transplantation. We shall be considering the need for any further Government action when full advice has been issued by the council.
§ Mr. HayhoeThe ratios of hospital beds to population and of staff to population are given in the table. The relationship between available beds and patients occupying beds is normally expressed as the percentage of available beds occupied and this is also given in the table. Figures for the numbers of qualified nurses working in hospitals, and for occupied beds are shown in the table. Available overall manpower statistics identify staff working in hospitals at a particular point in time, but do not differentiate between types of activities within the hospital. Crude ratios of staff to the occupation of hospital beds not taking into account varying factors such as the age of patients and the type or complexity of treatment given are not therefore meaningful.
Fewer than 10 per cent. of kidneys transplanted into National Health Service patients come from live donors and there is no evidence that such donors have ever been subject to pressure.