Every so often a client tells me:
“When I die, I’d like to leave my body to medical science.”
It is a generous idea, but there is rather more to it than simply putting a sentence in your Will.
For people around Eastbourne, Polegate, Hailsham, Seaford and the wider East Sussex area, body donation is coordinated through the London Anatomy Office, which works with Brighton & Sussex Medical School and other teaching institutions. The London Anatomy Office’s current catchment includes both BN and TN postcodes.
Brighton & Sussex Medical School itself directs prospective donors to the London Anatomy Office to make the arrangements.
You have to arrange it while you are alive
This is the most important thing to understand.
Your family cannot decide after you have died that your body should be donated to medical science.
Under the Human Tissue Act 2004, you need to give written and witnessed consent before your death.
So although I can record your wishes in your Will, I would not want a client relying on the Will alone.
The proper approach is to obtain and complete the London Anatomy Office documentation and then keep your copy with your Will or other important papers.
The current consent form must be signed and dated by both the donor and witness at the same time. The London Anatomy Office also recommends telling your GP.
Where do people in East Sussex apply?
The local arrangements are handled by:
London Anatomy Office
King’s College London, Guy’s Campus
London SE1 1UL
Telephone: 020 7848 8042
Email: lao@kcl.ac.uk
You can also visit the London Anatomy Office website. Its teaching partners include Brighton & Sussex Medical School.
There is also information on the Brighton & Sussex Medical School body donation page.
What will your body be used for?
Donated bodies are enormously valuable in medical education.
They may be used for anatomical examination, teaching healthcare students and professionals, specialist clinical training and research concerned with the structure and function of the human body.
Brighton & Sussex Medical School explains that donated bodies are still essential despite advances in technology. They help medical students understand real human anatomy and allow specialists such as surgeons to practise and develop techniques.
But there is no guarantee
Signing a donation form does not mean the donation will definitely be accepted when you die.
There are medical and practical reasons why the London Anatomy Office may have to say no. These can include a required post-mortem, certain infections, some medical conditions, unhealed surgery and other circumstances that make preservation or anatomical examination unsuitable. There can also be periods, particularly around major holidays, when bodies cannot be accepted.
That means I would always encourage someone making these arrangements to have a second set of funeral wishes.
For example:
“I wish to donate my body for anatomical examination if the donation is accepted. If this is not possible, I wish to be cremated.”
That saves your family from having to guess.
Make sure your family knows
This may be just as important as signing the form.
If you die at home, in hospital or in a care home, your family or executor needs to know that you are a registered body donor and contact the London Anatomy Office quickly.
Under the current arrangements, if death occurs in hospital, the body should usually remain in the hospital mortuary pending a decision. If it occurs at home or in a nursing home, a funeral director may need to provide refrigerated care while acceptance is considered.
So don’t hide the paperwork at the back of a filing cabinet under “Things to worry about eventually”.
Tell the people who are likely to be dealing with your affairs.
What happens about the funeral?
The unusual part of body donation is that the normal funeral may not take place shortly after death.
Depending upon the consent given, the London Anatomy Office’s participating medical schools may retain a body for up to three years or, where the donor has chosen that option, indefinitely. Sometimes the body may be released much sooner.
Families can still hold a memorial or celebration of life without the body present.
When the medical school has finished, the family can make its own funeral arrangements or, under the current London Anatomy Office scheme, ask the Office to arrange a cremation. Relatives can choose whether to attend the short service and whether they would like the ashes returned.
There is also an annual Service of Thanksgiving for people who have donated their bodies.
If you want to donate your body, do the paperwork now
Body donation is a good example of why estate planning involves more than simply making a Will.
A Will tells people what you want.
Sometimes you also have to make sure the practical machinery is already in place to make it happen.
If body donation is something you are considering, contact the London Anatomy Office, complete the appropriate forms, tell your GP and family, keep a copy with your important papers and make alternative funeral wishes in case your donation cannot be accepted.
The Human Tissue Authority’s body donation guidance is also well worth reading before making a decision.