In this regulation:
agency means the British Columbia Transplant Society;
consent means consent to the use of a patient's body, or the removal and use of specified parts of it, after death for therapeutic purposes, medical education or scientific research;
decision record means the written or electronic record of the decision, made by the patient in accordance with section 4 of the Act, either
to give consent, or
to refuse consent;
facility means a hospital, licensed hospital or community care facility listed in Schedule A;
next of kin means a relative of the patient determined in accordance with section 5 (1) (a) to (e) of the Act;
patient means a person admitted to a facility and includes a person who is dead on arrival at a facility;
registry means the Provincial Organ Donor Registry operated by the agency.
The purpose of this regulation is to facilitate increased levels of organ donation and transplantation.
A facility must notify the agency immediately in the event of the death, or impending death, of a patient 75 years of age or younger, in its care.
Notification under subsection (1) must be by telephone or by electronic means and must include the following information about the patient:
name;
personal health number;
age;
cause, or expected cause, of death;
any past and current medical history which is relevant to organ transplantation which is available.
At the time of giving a notification under section 3, the facility must contact the agency, or a person designated by the agency, and the agency must determine and advise the facility whether
the existence of a medical or other condition will make the tissue of the patient unsuitable for use in another person, or
the tissue of the patient may be suitable for use in another person because paragraph (a) does not apply.
If a determination is made that subsection (1) (a) applies, the facility must take no further action under this regulation in relation to the patient.
The facility must advise the agency of the results of its search under subsection (1) and, if there is a decision record,
the facility must immediately place a copy of the decision record in the medical record of the patient, and
provide the next of kin with a copy of the decision record.
If the decision record indicates a refusal to give a consent, the facility is to take no further action under section 6 or otherwise to obtain a consent.
If the facility has obtained a copy of a decision record for a patient from the registry, the decision record contains a consent and section 4 (1) (b), if applicable, applies, the facility must advise the next of kin whether it intends that the body is to be used or specified parts are to be removed as authorized by the consent.
approach the next of kin and advise that no decision record exists,
provide the next of kin with any evidence the facility has of the intentions of the patient in relation to giving or refusing consent, and
determine whether the next of kin will give consent.
If a decision is made by the next of kin under subsection (2) to refuse consent to any use of the body after death, for any purpose, the facility must take no further action to obtain a consent in relation to the patient.
A facility must establish and maintain, in consultation with the agency, a system of record keeping, satisfactory to the minister, for the purposes of:
monitoring the effectiveness of this regulation;
preparing annual or other reports that may be required from time to time;
auditing the compliance of facilities with this regulation.
A system of record keeping under subsection (1) must
include a copy of the notification given under section 3,
include information respecting determination of medical unsuitability, and
be updated promptly upon the death of a patient in a facility.
Records under this section must be available, on reasonable notice, on request by the minister.
Records maintained under the system referred to in subsection (1) must be available for inspection, on reasonable notice, by persons specified for the purpose by the minister.
The health care professionals who may be designated, on behalf of a facility, to seek a consent under section 6 (2) are:
medical practitioners;
persons who are authorized under the Health Professions and Occupations Act to practise the designated health profession of nursing;
hospital social workers;
hospital pastoral care workers;
other facility employees or agency employees who are specifically identified by a facility or the agency because of their special training and experience.
A facility must implement, in consultation with the agency, a protocol satisfactory to the minister, that includes specific provision for these matters:
how notification under section 2 can occur in the most expeditious manner possible;
who will advise the next of kin of the death or impending death of a patient;
the process for advising the patient's medical practitioner at the earliest reasonable opportunity of any action taken by the facility under section 6 (2);
the training necessary for a person referred to in paragraph (d);
the timeliness and mechanisms for reporting notifications under this regulation;
other terms and conditions necessary for the administration of this regulation in the most sensitive and appropriate manner possible.
Schedule A [am. B.C. Reg. 229/99.]