Page 1009 - Week 03 - Thursday, 10 March 2016
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
In conclusion, these two amendments will help support the best transplant outcomes for the recipient. The Greens will be supporting this bill before us today.
MS FITZHARRIS (Molonglo—Minister for Higher Education, Training and Research, Minister for Transport and Municipal Services and Assistant Minister for Health) (5.36), in reply: I would like to begin by thanking both the Canberra Liberals and the ACT Greens for their support of this important piece of legislation. The Transplantation and Anatomy Amendment Bill 2016 seeks to amend the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1978 in order to resolve two key issues. Currently, the act does not clearly state that nurses and technicians who are trained tissue retrievalists can remove whole organs where only parts of the organs, such as heart valves, are to be used. This has led to uncertainty about whether the process is endorsed by the act.
Secondly, currently the coroner can provide consent to release a person’s organs for donation only after a person has died. For the best outcome, organs must be retrieved as soon as possible after a person’s heart stops. If there are any issues with contacting a coroner, the organs may be retrieved too late for the best outcome or retrieval may not be viable.
The bill provides for amendment of section 29(4) of the act to enable the coroner to provide direction before death that coronial consent is not required for organ donation to occur after death; amendment of section 31(5) to define relevant tissue as “any tissue or whole organ necessary to support effective transplantation of musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, eye and skin tissues”; and minor amendment to the wording of sections 29(1), 34(1) and 40(1) to simplify the wording describing the circumstances where a coroner may be required to hold an inquest into the death of a person. The object of the amendment to section 29(4) of the act is to enable a coroner to advise before the person dies that coronial consent for organ donation does not need to be sought after death. Most states or territories already make this provision in their legislation.
Waiving the requirement to seek coronial consent after death will not change the rights of the next of kin or any other person empowered to consent to the organ or tissue donation. It will help to speed up the retrieval of organs and achieve the best outcome for the person who receives the organ or tissue transplant. The coroner will make this decision based on whether the removal of the organs would impact on a potential coronial investigation.
The amendment to section 31(5) clarifies that suitably trained officers can remove whole organs for the purpose of supporting safe transport and storage of tissues for transplant. Transporting the tissues as part of a whole organ helps to maintain the shape and sterility of the tissue and provides the best transplant outcomes for the person who receives them.
It is anticipated that these reforms will improve the efficiency, effectiveness, timely delivery and quality of services in the organ and tissue donation sector in the ACT. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video