Page 1 of 1

UK Gov votes on Monday 28th re opt-in for organ donation

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:29 am
by BrendaM
Hi Folks
have now checked this and The Human Tissue Bill *will* be debated and voted upon next Monday 28th June.

To find your MP use www.parliament.uk which gives email links to lobby him. Suggest also lobby the Health Secretary and Tony Blair also although the Gov have decided to oppose it's introduction ( WHY? )
regards
BrendaM

Organ donation Bill

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 1:44 pm
by susie
Brenda,

It was on radio 4 today programme, apparently Labour party will be voting against it because it will cost too much to setup infrastructure.

You can listen again by going to:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/liste ... 040624.ram

I wrote to my MP urging him to ignore the whip, and also wrote to

Rosie Winterton
The Department of Health
Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2NS

UK Human Tissue Bill

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 4:20 pm
by BrendaM
Great Susie
I wrote to MP, Tony Bliar, John Reid Health Secretary but I'll add Rosie Winterton to my list,
regards
BrendaM

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:03 pm
by Hal
It looks to me that the bill is called the Organ Donation (Presumed Consent and Safeguards) Bill and not the Human Tissue Bill ????

You can email your MP via the Directory on www.parliament.uk . However, I'd recommend calling their consituency office to get an actual email address and be sure they do actually check them before writing them!

I just called my MP and it turns out there is a Surgery tomorrow, so I will be turning up there to pester her!

Here are the email addresses for the other main players:

Rosie Winterton: [email protected]
John Reid: [email protected]
Tony Blair: You have to do via the web site http://www.locata.co.uk/cgi-bin/webdriv ... ail&id=390

Hal.

Re: UK Gov votes on Monday 28th re opt-in for organ donation

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 7:36 pm
by mags
BrendaM wrote:Hi Folks
have now checked this and The Human Tissue Bill *will* be debated and voted upon next Monday 28th June.

To find your MP use www.parliament.uk which gives email links to lobby him. Suggest also lobby the Health Secretary and Tony Blair also although the Gov have decided to oppose it's introduction ( WHY? )
regards
BrendaM
It always comes down to money, doesn't it? Never mind that people die waiting for a transplant, oh dear me no. I also understand there is a chronic shortage of renal surgeons/doctors specialising in renal medicine... which all makes for depressing news really. But... we have not to be downhearted, or defeated. We cannot just sit back and expect things to change, it is people power, patient power, that can get things done, can see changes made. So, I have already been on to my local MP, who is brilliant at listening to his constituents, and doing his best for them when he is on their side.

Please don't anyone think that they can't make a difference, so why bother? If we all thought that, nothing would be done, and we would only deserve the poor service we get. I am going to be contacting the other people mentioned, Ms Winterton for example, and let's hope we can get the powers that be to see past the pounds, shillings and pence aspect for a change, and look at the patients benefits.

Human Tissue Bill

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2004 7:15 am
by R30
Sorry to sound like I'm being thick - but can anyone explain to me what the Human Tissue Bill covers, and what is being rejected by Labour before I write to my MP? You've given some very good advice, but without stating what it really covers....
Cheers!
Ruth

URL for Human Tissue Bill

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2004 8:04 am
by BrendaM
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/p ... 004049.htm

this should lead to a downloadable .pdf file - or naviagte from the main www.parliament.uk address
regards
BrendaM

Organ Donation (Presumed Consent and Safeguards) Bill

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2004 8:23 am
by susie
Ruth,

The Organ Donation (Presumed Consent and Safeguards) Bill means that the law would be changed to presume consent, so you would have to register instead that you [i]did not[/i] want your organs available for transplant. At the moment we have a system where we are encourage to register if we d[i]o[/i] want our organs to be available, but even when registered close relatives have to give their consent before organs can be taken for transplant.

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-of ... 7.1-i.html has the full bill details (I think this is the correct link)

And thanks for asking for the details, your right to ask, its pointless writing in if you dont know, and you may not agree with the bill anyway.

I think the issues are:-

That the bill will not be allowed a free vote if the Labour Party whip says that labour party MPs cannot vote in favour of the bill.

That it is being rejected on cost grounds, there are also costs involved in keeping people on dialysis, plus benefits that they are entitled to claim, plus the fact that it may affect a persons career prospects and tax revenue they generate- for instance my husband now works part-time - if he was fit and well he would work fulltime and pay more tax

It affects not just those on dialysis, but also those waiting for corneas, livers, heart and lung transplants, in some of these cases people die waiting for transplants.

Another argument against presumed consent is that there are not enough transplant surgeons etc so the organs could go to waste. I would argue that they go to waste anyway and feel that if the organs were available that there would be more pressure on the health service/government to do something about the shortage of surgeons and setting up the necessary infrastructure.

Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2004 9:31 am
by oldborris
If you are feeling really, really lazy, like what I am all the time except when I'm asleep when I don't know what I feel like, the easiest way to contact your Member of Parliament is to log on to http://www.faxyourmp.com. All you have to do is to fill in a box with the letter you're too tired or lazy or whatever to be bothered to send and the site will automatically send a fax to your MP [they'll even tell you who he is when you type in your post code] which he/she will receive just as if it came straight from you. How did I ever manage to exist before the age of computers?

Correct name of Bill

Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2004 3:05 pm
by BrendaM
http://www.parliament.uk/what_s_on/hoc_ ... siness.cfm

According to this page the forthcoming business of Parliament debates the Human Tissue Bill tomorrow but it *is* all very confusing, I just hope they DO vote in presumed consent (with appropriate safeguards for those opting out) - by whatever name they choose to call it.
BrendaM