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Last updated: Wednesday 31 January 2001, 1000 GMT
Hospitals holding body parts
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Southampton General Hospital

In the wake of the Government's report into the retention of organs at Alder Hey children's hospital, more hospitals in the South have admitted they too have removed and kept organs without informed consent.

An ambulance

Southampton University Hospitals have come under intense scrutiny, since the report was published yesterday. As one of the country's most important teaching centres, the University Hospitals have around 1,500 retained organs in their posession.

Many of the organs are brains kept for research into diseases like CJD and alzheimers.

Representatives of Southampton's NHS trust are holding a press conference at 10 o'clock this morning.

The trust does admit that before the introduction of new guidelines on retention, some organs were kept without fully informed consent. Other hospitals in the region have also admitted to retaining smaller numbers of organs.

Hospital spokesperson Marilyn Kay says they've done nothing wrong, and there's no cause for concern: