New Petitions

The next petition is PE406, from Miss Margaret Doig, on the law and code of practice covering post-mortem organ removal when the deceased has no relatives. I should declare an interest: Miss Doig is one of my constituents and has written to me on the issue. Her concern is with individuals who have no surviving next of kin and therefore have no rights on post-mortem organ removal, because nobody can represent their wishes after their death.I suggest that we refer the petition to the Health and Community Care Committee with a recommendation that the committee establish whether the examinations of the review group on retention of organs at post-mortem cover the specific issue of acquiring authority for post-mortem and treatment of organs of those with no relatives. If the issue is not covered by the group, we should recommend that the Health and Community Care Committee invite comments from the Executive and consider whether the petition should be brought to the group's attention or treated separately. Is that agreed?Members indicated agreement.