WHY?

P
I
T
Y
II

Dear [parents' title and name]

I am writing on behalf of the Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust - Alder Hey with the sole intention of offering you a personal and sincere apology with regard to [child's name]. The death of a child brings inconsolable grief and I am so very sorry that we made this suffering worse for you. There can be no doubting that there were aspects regarding the issue of organ and tissue retention which were unacceptable.

Since September 1999, we have dealt with thousands of enquiries from distressed parents and relatives trying to establish, whether or not their child was involved in organ or tissue retention, and if they were, the extent of their involvement. As we have learnt, to everyone's cost, this has not been an easy question to answer and I must apologise for the delays, and on some occasions, inaccurate information has followed. In our wish to be open and honest with parents we have sometimes, in the past, given incomplete information. Unfortunately, information was not previously recorded in such a way that would have been helpful in these circumstances and we have had to spend time drawing details together from various organisations.

Throughout this time we have put in place a number of significant changes. We have worked closely with parent representatives and the Retained Organs Commission. We have established new Post Mortem Consent procedures and appointed a Bereavement Co-ordinator to help support parents at the time of the death of their child. Much of this has only been possible by listening to the views and learning from the experiences of parents such as you. We are indebted for the help we have received in this ay, and for the time and advice which has bee given by parents freely and willingly, in the hope that it can prevent such a situation from ever happening again and that we might learn how to support families better in the future.

I realise that for many parents all of this will have come too late and will offer little comfort. No amount of sorrow expressed here can begin to put right the wrong that you must feel but I hope that it will at least give you some reassurance that something positive has come from this for children and families in the future.

Finally, our Serious Incident Team continues to work with and support parents making enquiries and going through the process of Organ and Tissue return. I a very aware that many parents have formed their own networks and continue to provide invaluable support to one another informally. I would like to extend y sincere thanks to all those involved in this process. The personal time given and emotional support offered has been a remarkable and at times humbling experience for many of us to have witnessed.

I hope that you will accept this apology in the spirit it is given - one of genuine regret. The staff at Alder Hey have been deeply touched by these events but we are resolved to make things better in this regard for the future.

I have enclosed an information pack on some of the changes made by the Trust which I hope you will find of interest.

Yours sincerely

A P BELL OBE
Chief Executive

PITY II (Parents who have Interred Their Young Twice) is the parents' support group set up in the wake of the organ retention scandal
at Alder Hey Hospital (Liverpool, UK). It aims to provide self help support and advice to affected families.

Keywords: PITY II, pity II, pity ii, PITY 2, PITY2, pity 2, pity2, Never Again, never again, DNA, Myrtle Street, poem, poetry, honouring the memory, memorial, Law Reform, Liverpool, liverpool, organ, retention, alder hey, heart, inquiry, Redfern, redfern, scandal, support, children, Retained Organs Commission, ROC, coroners, Litigation & Mediation