Using these guidelines
The Tissue (Deceased Donors) Donor Selection Guidelines (TD-DSG) apply to deceased donors giving giving tissues for therapeutic use.
The TD-DSG forms a constituent part of Chapter 20 of the Guidelines for the Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services in the UK.
JPAC is responsible for these guidelines and receives professional advice from its specialist Standing Advisory Committees and other relevant expert groups. The TD-DSG is primarily reviewed and updated by the Standing Advisory Committee on Tissues (SACT). It is reviewed regularly to ensure that donations are of the highest quality and of sufficient quantity to meet the needs of recipients.
Comments about the content of the TD-DSG, including notification of errors, omissions and suggestions for improvements, should be sent to JPACOffice@nhsbt.nhs.uk.
General principles
Important
These guidelines are for healthcare professionals who are trained in their use.
JPAC cannot answer individual donor queries or provide personal medical advice. Help with such matters may be available through a local blood and tissue service.
Donations must not be accepted from donors who exhibit health risks that are not listed in these guidelines without referral to, and acceptance by, a Designated Clinical Support Officer.
Donors are selected to ensure that their donation is unlikely to harm any recipient.
The ultimate responsibility for the selection of donors rests with the Medical Director of each UK Blood and Tissue Service (UKBTS).
The immediate responsibility is with the Qualified Healthcare Professional who must ensure that the donor fulfills the respective selection criteria. When it is not clear from these guidelines if an individual donation is suitable, no tissue should be used without discussion with a Designated Clinical Support Officer.
The prospective donor must be evaluated for their eligibility to donate by a Qualified Healthcare Professional who has undergone appropriate training to use these guidelines to select or defer a donor. They must verify their assessment by signing the donation record.
Special note must be taken of the content of the Tissues safety entry.
It is the responsibility of the Qualified Healthcare Professional to ensure that relatives/partners of donors clearly understand the nature of the donation process. Relatives/partners must also understand the health questions and other information presented to them. Relatives/partners are asked about confidential aspects of the donor's medical history, hence great care must be taken over privacy and confidentiality.
Where there is separate guidance for different tissues, this is made clear. When there is a recognised risk to the recipient, the guidelines must be followed.
Ocular guidelines
The TD-DSG contains information on the selection of donors of ocular tissue. Questions and comments about the ocular guidelines should be addressed to Dr Ulrike Paulus (Ulrike.Paulus@nhsbt.nhs.uk).
Use of the A to Z index
Any medical condition or possible contraindication to donation, elicited at any point during donation processing or storage, must be managed as indicated by its respective guideline entry. A complete list of available entries can be found in the A to Z index. Any donated tissue which, as a result, is unsuitable for clinical use must be clearly labelled as unfit for use.
If late information is provided by the relatives/partner of a donor, or through any other source, that the donor was medically unfit, this must be recorded and reported to the Designated Clinical Support Officer.
Any new health risks identified during the donor selection process should be notified to SACT so that they can be considered for incorporation into future revisions of the TD-DSG.
Guideline terminology
Please note, not all of the terms given below appear on every guideline entry.
Medication
The underlying illness suffered by a donor, rather than the properties of any drug they are taking, is the usual reason for an ineligiblity to donate.
In general, traces of drugs in donations are harmless to their recipients. However, donors treated with certain drugs are deferred for periods associated with the pharmacokinetic properties of the drug. Examples are drugs used to treat acne, psoriasis, and some prostate problems. All such drugs have their own entry.
Version control
The TD-DSG is under the continuing review of SACT and the Standing Advisory Committee on Transfusion Transmitted Infection (SACTTI) to ensure that they are accurate and up to date.
All changes are the responsibility of the Professional Director of JPAC and have the approval of the Executive Working Group (EWG) and the JPAC Board.
The Quality Manager of each UKBTS will be notified of upcoming changes by electronic distribution of a Change Notification.
The Quality Manager is responsible for effecting changes to locally held copies of the guidelines, or to information adapted from the guidelines for use within their respective service. An effective version control and change procedure must be in place to ensure only current versions of the guidelines are in use and that all authorised copies, electronic and paper, are traceable.
Live version of the guidelines (this website)
The website will always display the current version of each guideline entry, as shown in the A to Z index, and each entry will shown the date of its most recent update. Changes will be published on the website on the effective date given in the relevant Change Notification.
Offline version of the guidelines (source files)
A source file is a downloadable copy of the guidelines. A source file containing the current version of the guidelines is always available on the Source files page.
In addition, whenever a Change Notification is distributed to indicate upcoming changes, an updated source file incorporating those changes will be made available. This will supersede the current source file on the effective date of the Change Notification and any previous source files will be removed.
Last updated in TD-DSG Edition 203 Release 65 (1 May 2026)