The legal justification for donor optimisation procedures

Current organ procurement policies in the UK include ante-mortem interventions to facilitate organ donation. However, a clear and unambiguous legal framework for these procedures does not currently exist. The Human Tissue Act (HTA) 2004 does not provide authority for donor optimisation procedures before death, and there are a number of difficulties in encompassing these procedures within the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 provisions on best interests. This article proposes a system of specific advance consent to enable best interests to take on its ascribed role as the legal justification for donor optimisation procedures.