Would patient consent be needed even to use a tiny bit of residual blood for research?
‘Residual’ blood or tissue from the living can be used without consent as long as the research is ethically approved and the researcher cannot link the blood or tissue to the patient. Consent is not needed to use surplus or residual tissue from living patients left over from diagnosis or surgery for the purposes of: • Public health monitoring • Education and training (including training in research techniques • Clinical audit • Performance assessment (e.g. testing medical devices) • Quality assurance. Consent is needed for any of the Human Tissue Act’s Scheduled Purposes where the tissue is from a deceased person.
