Government 'broke pledge' on organs

The Government "misled the public" when it pledged to act against the harvesting of organs from babies in response to the Alder Hey scandal, the Tories said yesterday.

Two years after a report revealed that more than 40,000 organs were being kept at British hospitals, the Government has still not changed the law to prevent doctors removing children's organs without parents' consent.

The Department of Health has admitted that implementing some of the recommendations in a report by the Chief Medical Officer into the affair has proved "difficult". Among these are penalties for doctors and coroners who remove children's organs without permission.

Chris Grayling, a Tory health spokesman, said: "For the Government not to have kept their promises is astonishing. It makes matters worse if you raise expectations of those who have been affected by such a tragic situation. Removing children's organs should never happen without consent."

The Government said it was still considering how to introduce legal protection for parents of children who die.