
1 

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Human Tissue Act 2004 (Ethical Approval, Exceptions from Licensing and Supply of Information about Transplants) Regulations 2006 and shall come into force on 1st September 2006.
(2) In these Regulations—
 “the Act” means the Human Tissue Act 2004;
 “donor” and  “recipient” have the meaning given by regulation 4; and
 “research ethics authority” means—
(a) a research ethics committee recognised or established by or on behalf of the Health Research Authority under the Care Act 2014, or
(b) any other group of persons which assesses the ethics of research involving individuals and which is recognised for that purpose by or on behalf of the Welsh Ministers or the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland.
 “transplantable material” has the meaning given in regulation 9 of the Human Tissue Act 2004 (Persons who Lack Capacity to Consent and Transplants) Regulations 2006 .
2 
Research is ethically approved for the purposes of section 1(9)(a) and paragraph 10(b) of Schedule 4 to the Act where it is approved by a research ethics authority.
3 

(1) The storage of relevant material by a person who intends to use it for a scheduled purpose is excepted from section 16(2)(e)(ii) of the Act (storage of relevant material which has come from a human body) in the circumstances set out in paragraphs (2) to (4).
(2) Storage of relevant material which has come from the body of a living person is excepted where the person storing it is intending to use it for—
(a) any purpose specified in paragraphs 2 to 5 or 8 to 12 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Act (determining the cause of death, establishing after a person's death the efficacy of any drug or treatment administered to him, obtaining information which may be relevant to another person, public display, clinical audit, education or training relating to human health, performance assessment, public health monitoring, ... quality assurance, maintaining the requirements of structure and vascularisation); or
(b) the purpose of qualifying research.
(3) Storage of relevant material which has come from a human body is excepted where the person storing it is intending to use it for the purpose of transplantation and—
(a) the material is an organ or part of an organ if it is to be used for the same purpose as the entire organ in the human body; or
(b) the storage is for a period of less than 48 hours.
(4) Storage of relevant material which has come from the body of a deceased person is excepted where—
(a) the person storing it is intending to use it for the purpose of qualifying research; or
(b) the relevant material—
(i) has come from premises in respect of which a licence under section 16(2) is in force,
(ii) is stored by a person intending to use it for the sole purpose of analysis for a scheduled purpose other than research, and
(iii) will be returned to premises in respect of which a licence under section 16(2) is in force when the analysis is completed.
(5) In this regulation—
(a) “organ” means a differentiated ...part of the human body, formed by different tissues, that maintains its structure, vascularisation and capacity to develop physiological functions with ... a significant  level of autonomy , and a part of an organ is also considered to be an organ if its function is to be used for the same purpose as the entire organ in the human body, maintaining the requirements of structure and vascularisation;
(b) “qualifying research” means—
(i) research which is ethically approved for the purposes of section 1(9)(a) of the Act; or
(ii) a specific research project for which such ethical approval is pending;
(c) an application for ethical approval is pending from when it has been submitted to a research ethics authority until the decision of the authority has been communicated to the applicant.
4 
A person who has removed transplantable material from a human body (“the donor”) which is proposed to be transplanted to another person (“the recipient”) shall supply to NHS Blood and Transplant  the information specified in Schedule 1 to these Regulations.
5 
A person who has received transplantable material which is proposed to be transplanted to a recipient shall supply to NHS Blood and Transplant the information specified in Schedule 2 to these Regulations.
Rosie Winterton,
Minister of State,
Department of Health

SCHEDULE 1
Regulation 4
1 
Name and address of the hospital or other place at which the transplantable material was removed from the donor.
2 
Full name of registered medical practitioner or person who removed the transplantable material, the appointment he holds and the place at which he holds it.
3 
In any case where the transplantable material is considered unsuitable for transplanting after removal, a statement of—
(a) the reason for the unsuitability, and
(b) the manner of disposal of the material.
4 
Description of the transplantable material.
5 
Whether the donor was living or deceased at the time of its removal.
6 
Date and time of its removal.
7 
Full name of the donor and, where applicable, his hospital case note number.
SCHEDULE 2
Regulation 5
1 
Name and address of the hospital or other place at which the transplantable material was received.
2 
Full name of registered medical practitioner who proposes to carry out the transplant (or who has carried it out), the appointment he holds and the place at which he holds it.
3 
In any case where the transplantable material is not transplanted to another person, a statement of—
(a) the reason why not, and
(b) the manner of disposal of the material.
4 
Description of the transplantable material.
5 
Name and address of the hospital or other place at which the transplantable material was removed from the donor.
6 
If the transplantable material was removed outside the United Kingdom—
(a) the name of the country in which the material was removed, and
(b) the reference number allocated to the material by NHS Blood and Transplant when arrangements were made to import it.
7 
Full name of the recipient.
8 
Date and time that the transplant was carried out.
9 
In any case where the donor is genetically related to the recipient, a description of the relationship.
10 
If the transplant was carried out in—
(a) a health service hospital (within the meaning of the National Health Service Act 1977 ), or
(b) a hospital vested in the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety or managed by a Health and Social Services Trust  ,a statement indicating (if that is the case) that—
(a) the treatment of the recipient was provided under a listed healthcare arrangement as defined in regulation 1(3) of the Healthcare (European Economic Area and Switzerland Arrangements) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, or
(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(c) the treatment of the recipient was provided under an arrangement for providing health care mutually agreed between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of a country or territory specified in Schedule 2 to the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, Schedule 2 to the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2011, Schedule 2 to the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015   or specified in Schedule 2 to the Provision of Health Services to Persons Not Ordinarily Resident Regulations 2005 .