Alder Hey Organs Scandal - Alder Hey Scandal Timeline

Alder Hey Scandal Timeline

April 1988 - Section committee at Alder Hey appoints Dick van Velzen as chair of fetal and infant pathology.

September 1988 - Dick van Velzen assumes his post as chair at Alder Hey.

1992 - Samantha Rickard dies while undergoing open-heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary.

December 1994 - Dick van Velzen is restricted to fetal and perinatal work only. On hearing this he takes an unauthorized leave from Alder Hey.

February 1995 - Dick van Velzen is ordered to stop any research project without proper ethical approval

December 1995 - Dick van Velzen leaves Alder Hey and begins work at IWK Grace Hospital in Nova Scotia

1996 - Helen Rickard demands a copy of her medical records from the BRI and finds a letter stating Samantha’s heart had been retained

1998 - Van Velzen head is fired from Halifax's IWK Hospital.

February 1999 - the Action Group members call a press conference to inform the public about the retained hearts at BRI.

September 1999 - A medical witness at the BRI inquiry draws attention to the large number of hearts held at the Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

December 1999 - An investigation is opened resulting in the Redfern report.

September 2000 - A worker at a storage facility in Halifax, Nova Scotia, finds the organs of an 8 year old girl in a plastic bag.

2001 - GMC rules that Dutch pathologist Dick van Velzen should be temporarily banned from practising medicine in the UK.

January 30, 2001 - Redfern report released.

February 4, 2001 - Prosecutors in Halifax, Nova Scotia, indicate that they are prepared to ask for the extradition of Prof Dick van Velzen relating to the discovery of children's organs in heat-sealed bags at a rented warehouse.

July 2001 – Van Velzen is convicted of improperly storing body parts removed from a child in the Halifax case. He was given a 12 months of probation and ordered to pay $2,000 (Canadian) to charity.

Early 2003 - Alder Hey claims settled with families of the victims for an out-of-court settlement of £5million.

January 2004 - 2,000+ families file suit against the NHS with the High Court for removing the body parts of dead patients without consent.

August 5, 2004 - Start of unidentified body burials at Allerton cemetery.

December 5, 2004 - The Crown Prosecution Service decides there should be no prosecution of Prof Dick Van Velzen for criminal offences.

June 20, 2005 - General Medical Council rules that Dutch pathologist Dick van Velzen should be banned from practising medicine permanently in the UK.