Post Mortem Examination

HM Coroner is legally empowered to request a post-mortem, and your consent is not required. You will be informed if a postmortem is necessary by the HM Coroner’s Officer responsible for your child’s case. If you have any concerns, you can discuss these with him/her. Your child may need to be moved to another hospital so that a specialist paediatric pathologist can carry out the examination on behalf of HM Coroner. If so, this will be discussed with you before it occurs.

Following the outcome of the post-mortem, HM Coroner’s Officer will contact you to inform you of the result. They may ask which Funeral Director you intend to use and whether burial or cremation is to be arranged.

Inquest

If the death is from unnatural causes, or there is need for further enquiry following a post-mortem, HM Coroner will open an inquest into the medical cause and circumstances surrounding the death. HM Coroner’s Officer will explain the details to you at the time. The inquest will be adjourned and re-opened at a later date. In this situation, HM Coroner will normally issue an interim Death Certificate which will enable you to register the death and make funeral arrangements. Following the inquest HM Coroner will send HM Coroner’s Certificate to the Registrar to allow the death to be formally registered and the full death certificate to be issued accordingly.

A Bereavement & Medical Examiner Officer will tell you if your child’s case needs to be referred to HM Coroner and why. If we do not refer a death to HM Coroner, but you have any concerns relating to the treatment that has been provided by the Trust, you can ask HM Coroner to consider holding an inquest. Do this as soon as possible after your child has died as delays in requesting an inquest may mean that any opportunity for HM Coroner to hold a post-mortem is lost.

The local Coroner’s Office can be contacted via:

His Majesty’s Coroner, Old Municipal Buildings, Corporation Street Taunton Somerset TA1 4AQ

Telephone: 01823 359271

Email: coroner@somerset.gov.uk

If you are seeking, or involved in, an inquest, independent information, advice or support is available. Details of organisations that can advise on the process, including how you can obtain legal representation, are listed on pages 22-25.

Why were the police and Children’s Social Care called when my child died?

If your child has died suddenly and unexpectedly it is routine practice to inform the police so that they can fully investigate the circumstances of the child’s death, on the behalf of HM Coroner. Usually, shortly after your child has died, a senior police officer will speak with you to understand the circumstances of your child’s death. Ask the duty staff if you wish to have a member of the nursing or medical team with you for support during this discussion.

It is routine practice to inform the local Children’s Social Care (CSC) of every child that dies, who normally resides within their locality. This is because CSC will be a part of the Child Death Review process, a normal pathway followed after the death of a child.

What is the Child Death Review process?

It is important that there is a review of every child’s death to learn as much as possible. This review is designed to support you and other members of your family in understanding why your child died. It will try to prevent other children dying from the same cause. There are some elements that take place for every child death, and some that may not be needed depending on the circumstances. Sometimes, other reviews are undertaken alongside the Child Death Review.

The Child Death Review process is split into four stages:

• Immediate response - sharing information between relevant organisations about the circumstances of your child’s death, safeguarding and supporting bereaved families.

• Information gathering - this may be in the form of a multiagency meeting and/or information sharing to have a full understanding of the circumstances of the child’s death, including the outcome of any relevant local investigations, and post-mortem reports.

• Child Death Review Meeting—a multiagency meeting of professionals known to the child and family to undertake a local review to identify local learning and review the support available to the child’s family.

• Child Death Overview Panel—a regional anonymised review of the case to identify trends, themes, and learning for child deaths across a specific geographical region.

Providing feedback, raising concerns or making a complaint

Providing feedback: We value and welcome your thoughts about your child’s care. Receiving feedback from families helps us to understand:

• what we are doing right and need to continue; and

• what we need to improve upon.

Raising concerns or complaints: It is very important to us that you feel able to ask questions and raise concerns regarding the care your child received. You can do this by informing the staff in the Bereavement Office, as they may be able to answer your concerns by reviewing the notes. If there are any serious care concerns, we will highlight these to our Learning from Deaths Lead within the Trust who will investigate these further.

If you would prefer to discuss your concerns with someone not directly involved in your child’s care, contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on:

Telephone: 01823 343536 or email: pals@somersetft.nhs.uk

Who do I need to tell that my child has died?

Your child’s GP, school, or college should have been notified of your child’s death very quickly, but some families wish to contact them directly as well. There may be other professionals/services involved with your child and family, your key worker can support you in identifying and informing them.

There may be other places that have your child’s details such as banks and building societies, local groups, religious organisations, clubs, dentists, and opticians who you will need to inform at some point.

If you joined any baby or child groups, such as supermarket clubs or online clubs, you will need to tell them that you do not wish to receive any more information. Otherwise you may continue to be contacted with offers and information about your child’s expected progress. The Mailing Preference Service can help with this; you can register online at www.mpsonline.org.uk

What about my child benefit and other payments?

If you have received benefits for your child, either in payments or equipment, these will usually continue for some weeks after your child has died, but the timing differs for different types of benefits. It is up to you to contact the agencies that provide your benefits. Do not delay this or you may be overpaid and have to repay any overpayments.

This can be difficult to do, so it might be a task you ask someone to help you with.

Child benefit is paid for up to eight weeks after a child dies, but you will need to ensure that you have informed the child benefit office. You can do this either online through the www.direct.gov.uk website or by contacting the child benefit office on 0300 200 3100.

What about my child’s social media pages?

If there are photos of your child on social media you may wish to reconsider your privacy settings. These could be reused without your permission if they are publicly accessible.

If your child had their own social media accounts, you can either deactivate them, turn them to a ‘memorialised’ account or leave them as ‘live’ accounts. To change the accounts, you will need to provide proof of your relationship and your child’s death certificate to the social media provider.

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Access the Help Centre and search ‘deceased family member’. You have the option to memorialize or remove the account. You will need to upload a copy of the death certificate.

www.facebook.com/help help.twitter.com help.instagram.com

What support is there for me as a bereaved parent?

The death of a child is the most traumatic experience that a parent can face. There is no normal or right way to feel or behave, and most people experience a range of emotions. Many parents experience feelings of sadness and despair, guilt, numbness and emptiness, and even a sense of relief in certain circumstances. Parents and family members often grieve in different ways and process their grief at different rates. Talking to family and friends about your child and your grief is often helpful, but many parents feel they need additional support.

There are several local and national organisations listed at the end of this booklet who can support you.