HM Inspector of Anatomy for Scotland Annual Report to the Scottish Ministers 1 April 2025 – 31 March 2026

General Points

Statistics Summary: these are cumulative figures for all anatomy departments:

Bequest Forms requested

1217 (1035)*

Bequest Forms returned

742 (651)*

Bodies accepted

308 (299)*

Bodies unable to be accepted

201 (174)*

Bodies redirected to another department

29 (29)*

Number of embalmed bodies currently held

466

Number of frozen bodies in storage

157

Number of Licensed Teachers, Academic

25

Number of Licensed Teachers, Technical

28

* 2024 – 2025 figures

Use of Bodies other than for the Teaching of Medical Students:

It is invariably the case that when someone leaves their body to the medical school, the assumption is made that is for the teaching of anatomy to undergraduate medical students. However, what is not always appreciated is the use made of donated bodies for the advancement of medical science and surgical training. Without exception, every Scottish medical school makes donated bodies available to surgeons in training and to research scientists enabling pioneering research to take place in Scotland.

The appendix shows a list of courses run and research currently being

carried out using donated bodies. Two in particular stand out, the thrombectomy retrieval research being carried out in the Image Guided Therapy Research Facility at Dundee and the David Knott Foundation Hostile Environment Surgical Training course at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

In Dundee, using one of the most sophisticated scanners in the world, they are conducting pioneering research where blood clots are removed from the blood vessels in the brain of a cadaver, which is physically located in Dundee, by a surgeon who is located in the USA.

On the Hostile Environment Surgical Training course, surgeons from battlefield environments learn the latest procedures, learnt on battlefields around the world, on how to deal with trauma to all parts of the body. On a recent course, surgeons currently working on the frontline of the Ukraine – Russian war, flew into Edinburgh for the course before flying directly back to the frontline.

Memorial Services:

All medical schools hold an annual Memorial Service in memory of all those who have left their bodies to the medical school; the Inspector attended all of these in person. All were very well attended and very much appreciated particularly by the families and friends of all the donors.

Induction Course for Those Wishing to Apply for a Licence

This is currently on hold at the moment.

Other Activities:

These included:

• reviewing licence applications, both personal and premises, before issuing them. In the case of the latter, it invariably means visiting the premises in question to make sure that it conforms to the requirements of the Act and the Code of Practice.
• responding on a day-to-day basis to email and telephone enquiries both from licensed teachers and members of the public on a wide and varied range of anatomically related topics.
• acted in an advisory capacity on the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Human Remains Committee
• reviewed the Guidelines on the handling of human remains for the Anatomy Association Advisory Committee
• gave a talk at the University of Edinburgh on International Anatomy Day
• attended and held a Q&A session at the meeting of the Scottish Anatomists
• asked to review the Medical Council’s Code of Practice for Anatomical Examination. Human Tissue Act 2024 – Part 4 (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display)
• contributed to a discussion on the security of anatomy mortuaries following the recommendations of the Fuller enquiry