Memorandum by the Royal College of General
Practitioners
1. The College welcomes the opportunity
to comment on this Select Committee on the European Inquiry.
2. The Royal College of General Practitioners
is the largest membership organisation in the United Kingdom solely
for GPs. It aims to encourage and maintain the highest standards
of general medical practice and to act as the "voice"
of GPs on issues concerned with education, training, research,
and clinical standards. Founded in 1952, the RCGP has over 31,000
members who are committed to improving patient care, developing
their own skills and promoting general practice as a discipline.
3. We believe that patient safety must be
a key concern and therefore there should be EU-wide regulations
on organ transplantation and donation to ensure a common standard
of safety. Associated procedures should receive regulatory scrutiny
to ensure that they meet set standards. However regulations should
not be so stringent that patients that badly need transplants
are denied these, what is important that full and accountable
information is provided with all donated organs.
4. Safeguards must also be taken to ensure
that organisations or individuals do not profit from the transport
of organs between EU member states.
5. I acknowledge the contributions of Mr
Antony Chuter, Mrs Ailsa Donnelly and Ms Janet Radcliffe-Richards
towards the above comments. While contributing to this response,
it cannot be assumed that those named all necessarily agree with
all of the above comments.
11 October 2007
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