What to do After a Death
After a person has died, you will need to contact their Doctor or the out of hours duty Doctor. If the death was in a nursing home the staff at the home will arrange for this to be done. Once the Doctor has confirmed that death has taken place, you may ring your chosen Funeral Director. We will ask you for the deceased's full name, place of death and their date of birth. We will then arrange for our staff to move the deceased to our Chapel of Rest. We offer a 24 hour service, 365 days of the year, so can be called at any time.
The Medical Examiner’s Role in All Deaths
From the 9th September 2024, all deaths in the community and in hospital will be referred to the Medical Examiner (ME). The Medical Examiner is a senior doctor, independent of the healthcare professionals who looked after the deceased. Their role is to advise Doctors on how best to certify the cause of death and to identify situations where aspects of healthcare could have been better and make suggestions for improvements in the future.
Medical Examiners are assisted by Medical Examiner’s Officers, who are not doctors but have experience of the healthcare system. A registered medical practitioner (Doctor) will propose a cause of death, which will be independently scrutinised by an ME after reviewing relevant medical records. The ME will offer the bereaved an opportunity to ask questions and raise concerns. Once the registered medical practitioner and the ME have made their declarations and the cause of death is finalised, the MCCD (Death Certificate) will be sent to the registrar’s office; this notification will also start the 5-day target to register the death. The person who will be registering the death is simultaneously notified, so that they can contact Registrar’s office to make an appointment to register the death.
H M Coroner
If the death was sudden, unexpected or the Medical Practitioner is unable to issue a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) then it will be reported to the Coroner. The Coroner's Officer will contact the family and keep them informed of what is happening. They will decide whether there will need to be a post mortem examination. They will also advise you as to when you will be able to register the death and will send the paperwork direct to the Registrar's Office for you to collect the Copy of the Entry. If the Coroner decides that an inquest is necessary, they will usually be able to issue the forms required for the funeral to go ahead by opening the inquest for the purpose of the identification of the deceased and then adjourn it until further investigations have taken place.
