Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the opt-in consent model used in fertility preservation services to the storage and future use of brain tissue and other tissue samples removed during neurosurgery.

The Department has not made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a standardised consent process for National Health Service neurosurgical procedures involving tissue resection with specific consent for storage, disposal, and future use of the tissue removed, or extending the opt-in consent model used in fertility preservation services to the storage and future use of brain tissue and other tissue samples removed during neurosurgery.

However, it is a general legal and ethical principle that valid consent must be obtained from an individual before starting a treatment or physical intervention, including neurosurgical procedures. The Department recognises the importance of ensuring patients, and their families after the patient has died, are fully informed about their rights, options, and choices regarding the storage and future use of their tissue samples and that their wishes are respected.