Helping medical teaching and research

Post Mortem Examination
You can help doctors to learn more about any medical conditions which you have experienced by agreeing in advance to a post mortem examination. Samples of organs and tissues may be kept for further investigation and research.

There may be a very short delay but your body will be returned to your family/executors for a funeral.

Most post mortem examinations take place in the hospital where a person has died. Sometimes if a person has suffered from a rare condition (even if that condition was not the final cause of death) with very specialist centres of research, it may be possible for a post mortem examination to be done at the place of death but tissues and/or organs to be transferred to the  research centre. It is best to ask your specialist consultant about this so that any particular instructions can be given to your family for when they need them.

Whole Body Donation
If you wish to donate your whole body for medical training or research, it is essential that before you die, you make your wishes known in writing and that this is witnessed.

It is an important part of the training of medical students that they learn the detailed structure of the body. Many advanced surgical techniques also need to be learnt using actual bodies rather than models. Some research into disease prevention and treatment can only be carried out using real tissue.

You should also inform your next of kin and the executor of your Will, if this is not the same person. Your executor or next of kin are not allowed to arrange whole body donation if you have not given consent yourself during life. The Human Tissue Authority has created a form to express your desire to donate your body which you can download from their website. Click here to go to this page. 

You need to be aware that it is not always possible for a body that has been offered to be accepted after death has occurred as it will depend on both the requirements of the medical schools at the time and also the circumstances of the death and the condition(s) from which the person died.

Where there is a whole body donation, the funeral is usually arranged by the medical school as there may be a delay of about two years before it takes place. Memorial services are arranged regularly to which families are invited.

Click here For further information and details of medical schools anywhere in the United Kingdom.

As soon as possible after death, those making the arrangements should contact the nearest Medical School, who will provide advice and information on what happens next. To find the nearest Medical School, call the Human Tissue Authority on 0207 211 3400 or click here.

Meanwhile, if the person has not died in hospital, a funeral director should be asked to store the body as soon as possible explaining what is intended.

It is not possible to know in advance whether a medical school will be able to make use of your body as this will depend on need at the time and the circumstances and cause of your death.