PALS Bereavement Services – Arrangements at the Hospital

Collecting the medical certificate of cause of death

The death needs to be registered and to do this you will need a medical certificate of cause of death. Please telephone us after 9am on the next working weekday after the death on 01793 604392 to ask if the certificate has been issued. Once it has been issued, you can arrange a time to collect it from us. When you telephone, it helps if you can tell us if there will be a burial or a cremation so that we can prepare the documents that the funeral director will need.

Dealing with the Coroner

We may have to inform the coroner of a person's death, for example, if they had had a fall or accident, if the death was sudden or if they had been in hospital for less than 24 hours. The coroner will decide if the hospital doctor can issue the medical certificate of cause of death or whether a post-mortem is needed. You will be informed as soon as possible if the coroner takes over responsibility.

Hospital post-mortem

The hospital doctor issuing the medical certifcate of cause of death may ask the next of kin or executor to agree to a hospital post mortem. They will discuss this with you and explain the reasons why. In such circumstances, the next of kin or executor will be asked to sign a consent form. A hospital post-mortem does not normally delay funeral arrangements and registration of the death can still take place.

Collecting property and valuables

If you are with your relative at the time of death, you can take any property with you at the time. However, any property or valuables that we are holding for safekeeping will be returned to you when you collect the medical certificate of cause of death.

Seeing your loved one

The funeral director will arrange to collect the deceased from the hospital and relatives and friends may generally see the deceased at the funeral director's chapel of rest. You should make an appointment with the funeral director to do this. The hospital does not have a chapel of rest, but can arrange for you to see your loved one if necessary. For more information please ask any member of the PALS team.