Donation of a Body for Research

A question about : Donation of a Body for Research

Anyone had experience of using the London Anatomy Office and their procedures? Were there any problems with timescales or paper work? Was there any problem with the pickup service not being available at weekends or Bank Holidays?
Thanks

Best answers:

• To be honest, the likelihood of someone spotting your post who would be in a position to answer your questions with a great degree of acccuracy is a bit slim.
  You may be better off phoning the Human Tissue Authority and asking them.
• Donating my body for research is something I've looked into a bit and would definitely consider (the only thing putting me off is that I coudln't also donate my organs) - so I'd appreciate it if you could update with your experience afterwards.
  Erm, assuming it's not your body that is being donated, because that might be difficult.
• https://www.kcl.ac.uk/lsm/study/depar...klet2011v2.pdf
• Ive donated mine, through Newcastle University. You have to die of natural causes, ie if you've had cancer etc they won't take you, and they wont take you on a bank holiday or weekends. There's a memorial service held every year for the families of those who have donated.
• Many years ago my father died and had left his body to the London place. After we notified them that he had died we left collection up to them so I have no idea about weekends or whatever. My father's body was at the hospital morgue and was collected from there. It hardly mattered if they left it until the next week as far as we were concerned and as it was we didn't know when they had collected.
• My relatives body went to Liverpool University a year ago. She had requested to do this years ago, and had been sent papers to sign (in front of witnesses , authorizing it . They explained they were pleased for the donation, specified the diseases and illnesses which would cause them to refuse the body when it came to the time of death, explained the body may be kept up to 3 years, and provided paperwork about what to do and who to contact , for the info of her next of kin ,including paperwork for the next of kin to decide when it came to the time, whether they wanted ashes back , or preferred not even to know anything further from point of death.
  When the time came, my relative was in a nursing home. Had she died over a weekend/bank holiday, I would have had to carry on with the normal procedure after any death . Since it happened on a weekday , I simply rang the undertaker I deemed equidistant between my relatives nursing home and Liverpool . The Dr signing the death certificate , also signed a further certificate which was part of the University paperwork left for next of kin, which was given to the undertaker .
  Relative was picked up immediately from NH and conveyed to funeral directors premises. From there, Liverpool uni sent their own transport to take the body to Liverpool Uni Mortuary. Transport cost was born by the family as agreed in the paperwork originally. I doubt there is much delay in any similar arrangement across the country , as they prefer the body to be in as best condition possible.
  Apart from transport costs, paperwork doesnt specify any further charges, but I it is hinted that the University department welcomes monetary donations to help fund the work . Several of my family over the last few decades have given their bodies to research and it has always been the practice to give a cheque for about 50% of the cost of a regular funeral to the university , and the other 50% to the favoured charity of the deceased.
  The next of kin will have send back the paperwork they hold stating their preferences for the disposal of the body. The Uni will automatically hold a very simple funeral (cremation) which they arrange and pay for but if you wish for something more elaborate, you are free to organize and pay for it. Either way its your choice to attend or not (if you elected in the paperwork to be notified when they had finished with the body). You can choose whether you want to be given the ashes or not and you can choose whether you wish to attend a memorial service which is held for all those donated persons.
  Personally we have never had problems with any of this, but we have only dealt with Liverpool and Cambridge , and the specifics Ive stated were with Liverpool . Cant imagine they vary too much across the country .
  Some people apparently find they dont have closure when their relatives body goes so suddenly without any following funeral , but it has never worried me as I know they have had their wishes granted and that makes me happy and proud. (Not everyone is accepted)
  Im aware you have asked about a specific place which is not a university, but this may help give an insight to what goes on, dont suppose its much different.
• Thanks Anglicanpat for your post which was very informative. I've been thinking of doing the same (my nearest would be Cambridge) but I know my family would have a problem with the grieving process.
• It's a long time since a completed a Donor Card but i thought there was a tick on that to say anything that couldn't be 'recycled', would you like to leave for research.
  My Mum always use to joke that anyone could have anything that was of use could be taken, and the bits that nobody wanted could go in the wheelie bin, and be taken to the dump. When she died from a heart attack it was the following day we found her, when i told them she wanted to donate anything you could use they told me it was to late. I didn't think one day would have made a difference but i was so upset at the time i never asked again or why.
• Unfortunately bodies start to decompose the moment death occurs.
• There was uproar when the media released information about undertaking companies' lack of respect for the dead, but what they were accused of pales into insignificance compared to what my best friend, then a medical student , told me about the way donated bodies were treated by some students. (I will not go into detail, but she was disgusted).
• My father in law's body was donated to Leeds University medical school. He was very elderly and had died from cancer, but they still took his body. They simply collected him from the undertaker, and my husband was sent the papers to sign. It was very straightforward.