Seven years on from the public inquiry into the retention of organs at Alder Hey, pathology departments are still routinely holding on to human tissue because they are unsure of what to do with it, a report by the Human Tissue Authority said this week.

In the first comprehensive review of the 2004 Human Tissue Act—introduced in response to concerns about inappropriate retention of organs after postmortem examinations—the authority’s report said that disposal of human tissue remains a major problem.

The review was based on site visits to 49 mortuaries in NHS hospitals and local authorities—targeted because initial administrative checks indicated that they might be high risk …