Alder Hey chief is sacked over organ scandal

The hospital chief executive who presided over the Alder Hey children's organ scandal has been formally sacked.

Hilary Rowland was found guilty on Monday of bringing the Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust and herself into disrepute after a disciplinary hearing.

MPs condemned the "appalling scandal" yesterday and called for a code of conduct to regulate doctors and ensure children's organs were not removed without permission. In a debate on the issue, Robert Wareing, Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby, said some parents had been forced to attend up to four funerals to bury parts of their children that had been discovered in storage.

"We need an overarching system which will regulate all in the NHS, and include the administrators, who must be made accountable and subject to regular scrutiny," Mr Wareing said.

David Watts, Labour MP for St Helens North, accused the medical profession of "real arrogance" and said self- regulation had not worked.

Sandra Gidley, for the Liberal Democrats, argued that safeguards should be introduced to ensure the public was protected from "rare" people in the medical profession who were responsible for Alder Hey.

The Health minister Hazel Blears said the Government planned to change the Human Tissue Act after wide consultation. She said consent for retaining organs would be made a legal requirement.