Circle Health Group Limited (Formerly BMI Healthcare) has been fined £100,000 for unauthorised storage of human tissue at an unlicensed premises, contrary to the Human Tissue Act 2004.
The London-based company was handed the fine on Monday at Worcester Crown Court, after pleading guilty to the offences in July.
The conviction follows a lengthy and detailed investigation by the Human Tissue Authority, West Mercia Police and West Midlands Police.
The investigation identified that BMI Edgbaston illegally stored human tissue samples over a period of at least 11 years, collected under the direction of a surgeon working at the hospital, without holding an appropriate Human Tissue Authority licence. The hospital subsequently allowed the human tissue to be removed from the hospital, again under the direction of the surgeon, to a private address which was also not covered by an appropriate licence.
Police investigators said the group failed to make any reasonable enquiries whether such a licence existed. The inappropriate storage of human tissue at the hospital was previously highlighted in both 2015 and 2019 following an internal audit but the response by management at the hospital was found to be…
