St George's Hospital Bereavement Booklet

A practical guide for when someone dies in hospital

We would like to express our sincere condolences to you at this very difficult time. This booklet contains details about what needs to be done after the death of your relative or friend. We hope it will help you to manage some of the practical aspects, such as registration and funeral arrangements.

At the end of this booklet is a list of other organisations that can provide you with help and support.

BEREAVEMENT SERVICES

As soon as you feel able please contact the Bereavement Service team who will be able to advise you on the processes you will need to follow and support you with these. If we have not heard from you within 1 working day of your loved one’s death we will contact you, but would prefer you to contact us at a time convenient for you. Bereavement.Services@stgeorges.nhs.uk 020

Bereavement Service staff are available from 9:00 to 16:00 Monday to Friday. If we are unable to take your call please leave a message with your name, contact details and the name of your friend or relative and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

If you need to speak to someone on weekends or Bank Holidays please contact the relevant ward.

VIEWING ARRANGEMENTS

Please contact the Mortuary Viewing Suite to discuss your request on 020 8725 5240. It is best to call between 11:00 and 12:00, or 13:00 and 15:00

THE MEDICAL CERTIFICATE OF CAUSE OF DEATH

A Medical Certificate of Cause of Death is needed to register the death of your relative or friend. This is a legal document which must be completed by a doctor who treated the patient and knows the cause of death. This can mean that sometimes there is a wait for the certificate, for example if the appropriate doctor is not on duty.

In some situations it is necessary for the doctor to make a referral to the Coroner before the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death can be issued. This is explained in more detail on page 4. In this situation there may be a delay, but we will do our best to keep you fully informed.

The Bereavement Services team will work with doctors, and Coroner’s Officers if necessary, in order for the certificate to be completed accurately and in a timely way. We will contact you when the certificate is ready and advise you of next steps.

MEDICAL EXAMINERS

St George’s has introduced the role of Medical Examiner. The Medical Examiner is a senior doctor who was not involved in the care of your loved one. The Medical Examiner reviews the medical records and understands the circumstances around the cause of death. They also talk to the clinical team that looked after your loved one. The aim of the Medical Examiner service is to support you with clinical information that will make it easier for you to understand the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death. They will also try to answer any questions that you may have about your loved one’s care, or to direct you to the people that will be best able to help you.

A member of the Medical Examiner service will try to contact you once the cause of death has been discussed with the clinical team and the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death has been proposed.

REFERRAL TO THE CORONER

In some situations it is necessary to refer a death to the Coroner; this may be because the clinical team are not able to say why the patient died or if the death was unnatural.

The Coroner’s Office will consider all the information provided by the referring doctor and there are several possible outcomes:

• A hospital doctor may be permitted to issue the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death

• The GP or another doctor known to the deceased may be asked to issue the certificate

• The Coroner may decide that further investigation is required to establish the cause of death and they will take responsibility for processes going forwards.

If the hospital doctor is permitted to issue the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death the Coroner will require a copy of the certificate as completed by the doctor. The Coroner will issue a document to support the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, called a Form 100A. The Coroner’s Office must send the Form 100A to the Register Office to allow the registration of death to take place. In addition to the Coroner’s Office keeping you informed, Bereavement Services will also notify you of progress and let you know when the certificate has been sent to the Registrar.

CORONER’S POST-MORTEM

The Coroner may decide a post-mortem is needed to find out the cause of death. Consent is not required from the next of kin for this examination.

The Coroner will release the body for a funeral once they have completed the post-mortem examination and no further examinations are needed.

You will need to inform your funeral director of the Coroner’s Office involvement so that they can request the completion of all relevant paperwork required for the release of the body and the funeral.

If the body is released with no inquest, the Coroner will send a form called Form 100B, commonly referred to as the ‘Pink form’, to the Registrar stating the cause of death. If you are planning on having a cremation the Coroner will complete a ‘Certificate of Coroner – form Cremation 6’.

CORONER’S INQUEST

If the Coroner decides to hold an inquest the death cannot be registered until after the inquest, but the Coroner can give you an interim death certificate to prove the person is dead. You can use this to let organisations know of the death and apply for probate. When the inquest is over the Coroner will tell the Registrar what to put in the register.

For further information contact the Coroner’s Office:

Inner West London Coroner’s Office

33 Tachbrook Street

London SW1V 2JR

Tel: 020 7641 1212

CONSENT POST-MORTEM

There are occasions when the clinical team involved in the care of the patient may ask for your consent to carry out a hospital post-mortem examination. This should not cause any delay to the funeral arrangements and it may assist in the treatment of other patients in the future.

You will be given every opportunity to discuss the circumstances with a clinician before making your decision or signing the necessary forms.

A report of the post-mortem will be available within four to six weeks and a copy forwarded to your GP and the hospital consultant in charge of the case. Should you wish to discuss the findings with the consultant, this can be arranged by their secretary.

REGISTRATION OF DEATH

Once a person has died their death should be registered within 5 calendar days. The death needs to be registered in the district in which the death occurred. If the Coroner is conducting an investigation this does not apply and the Coroner’s Office will notify you.

If the hospital can issue the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, as soon as it is complete the Bereavement Service will send it electronically to the Registrar along with contact details for the next of kin. The Registrar will then contact the next of kin to make a face-to-face appointment to complete the registration.

Deaths that occur in St George’s Hospital are registered with:

• Wandsworth Register Office

Tel: 020 8871 6120

The Registrar will need to have some information about the person who has died and it will be helpful to have the following available when you speak with them:

• Full name of the deceased and maiden name if the deceased was a woman who had married

• Date and place of birth

• Date and place of death

• Usual address

• Occupation and if applicable, the name and occupation of the deceased’s spouse or civil partner

• Whether he or she was receiving a pension or allowance from public funds

• If the deceased was married, the date of birth of the surviving widow or widower

You will be asked to pay a fee of £11 for each copy of the death certificate. The Registrar will provide you with as many copies as you require and will be able to advise you. The Registrar will also give you the Certificate for Burial or Cremation, commonly known as the ‘Green form’. Your funeral director will need this in order to carry out the funeral.

At the end of the registration appointment the Registrar will issue you with a unique Tell Us Once service number. Tell Us

Once is a service Wandsworth Council provides in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions. This service makes it easier to inform relevant organisations of a person’s death. The Registrar will provide you with a leaflet, and additional information is available via:

• Online: www.gov.uk/tell-us-once

• Tel: 0800 085 7308

ARRANGING A FUNERAL

Planning the funeral can be an important part of saying goodbye to the person who has died. Making arrangements for a special ceremony may be a comfort to you.

It is important to choose a funeral director with whom you feel comfortable. You may wish to ask questions about their services, for example:

• What costs are involved

• Whether a viewing can be arranged at the funeral home

You may be able to make provisional plans with your chosen funeral director before registration of the death; however, final arrangements cannot be made until the death has been registered.

The Bereavement Service is not able to recommend any particular funeral director but there are several local companies detailed at the back of this booklet.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

You may be entitled to assistance with funeral costs if you are in receipt of certain allowances or benefits. The booklet and application form for Funeral Expenses Payment is available from the Department for Work and Pensions:

• Online: www.gov.uk/funeral-payments

• Tel: 0800 731 0469

RAPID RELEASE FOR RELIGIOUS REASONS

If your faith requires that burial takes place within a specific timeframe we will do everything that we can to facilitate this. Please let staff on the ward know that this is needed. If the death needs to be referred to the Coroner it will not be possible to offer this service.

Monday to Friday, between 09:00 and 16:00 the release of your loved one will be supported by the Bereavement Service team. Outside of these times a protocol is in place to support staff to meet your wishes and ward staff will be able to give you a leaflet that provides you with detailed information. This leaflet is called ‘Meeting the need for rapid release of a body’.

Please note that the death must be registered before a burial can take place. At weekends and Bank Holidays the Registrar runs an on-call service between 09:00 and 11:00, via 020 8871 6000. This service is only for the issue of burial certificates for a funeral that is to take place within 24 hours.

DUTY OF CANDOUR

As part of our quality assurance processes we review inpatient deaths to ensure that treatment and care was as good as it could be. Occasionally we may find that we did not meet the high standards that we would expect. When this occurs we will contact the next of kin to let them know about the review.

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

If you wish to discuss any issues or concerns relating to the overall care of the person who has died it may be helpful, in the first instance, to contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) who can be contacted via:

• Tel: 020 8725 2453

• Email: pals@stgeorges.nhs.uk

However, if you wish to make a formal complaint please write to us outlining your concerns to:

• Email: complaints.compliments@stgeorges.nhs.uk

• Post: Complaints and Improvements Department, St George’s Hospital, Blackshaw Road, London, SW17 0QT

Your letter will then be treated as a formal complaint and handled under the NHS Complaints Procedure.

GRIEVING

By its very nature a death is distressing and everyone deals with this in their own way. The emotional and physical reactions that follow can be intense: they can confuse, frighten, and shock. You may experience reactions that are unfamiliar and seemingly out of character. Try to talk about what has happened with someone you trust. If you feel that you want further advice then contact your GP who may refer you to a counsellor if they think that will help. Alternatively, there is a list of organisations at the end of this booklet that offer bereavement support.

ST GEORGE’S HOSPITAL CHARITY

Making a donation, or a gift in memory, to St George’s Hospital Charity is a valuable and positive way to remember a loved one. Funds can be designated to support a ward, department or area of the hospital’s work that has a special significance to you and will be a lasting tribute.

St George’s Hospital Charity exists to:

• Enhance the physical environment of the hospital for patients, staff and visitors

• Fund clinical research

• Help to fund state-of-the-art equipment

• Support St George’s staff through training and development

To find out more:

• Visit us in the Fundraising Office, Grosvenor Wing entrance

• Call us on 020 8725 4522

• Email us at giving@stgeorges.nhs.uk

• Online at www.stgeorgeshospitalcharity.org.uk

HELP FROM OTHER GROUPS AND ORGANISATIONS

• GOV.UK

Online: www.gov.uk/when-someone-dies

• Age UK

Tel: 0800 678 1602

Online: www.ageuk.org.uk

• Macmillan Cancer Support

In person: Located next to Bereavement Services in St George’s Hospital

Tel: 0808 808 00 00

Online: www.macmillan.org.uk

• Cruse Bereavement Care

Tel: 0808 808 1677

Online: www.cruse.org.uk

• Samaritans

Tel: 116 123

Online: www.samaritans.org

• Sudden

Online: www.sudden.org

• Wandsworth Bereavement Service

Tel: 020 7223 3178

Online: www.wandsworthbereavement.org.uk

• Switchboard LGBT+ helpline

Tel: 0300 330 0630

Online: www.switchboard.lgbt

• Royal British Legion

Tel: 0808 802 8080

Online: www.britishlegion.org.uk

• Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide

Email: email.support@uksobs.org

Web: www.uksobs.org

DIRECTIONS TO ST GEORGE’S HOSPITAL

By car

There are drop off/collection points outside most wings. There is a charge to use the car parks and charges are paid on exit. For up-to-date information about costs please see our website

www.stgeorges.nhs.uk

Blue badge holders may park free in:

• Any of the reserved disabled spaces available near the entrances of the hospital wings

• Any white-painted bay on the hospital perimeter road

• The car park – the badge holder must take the ticket and blue badge to the Security desk in Grosvenor Wing before they leave the hospital

By bus

Bus routes 493 and G1 enter the hospital grounds. Several other bus route serve roads within a short walk of the hospital:

• Routes 44, 270 and N44 stop on Garratt Lane

• Routes 57, 131, 219 and N155 stop on Tooting High Street

• Routes 155, 264 and 280 stop on Blackshaw Road

Low-floor, wheelchair accessible buses run on all routes.

By tube

Tooting Broadway Underground station on the Northern line is 10 minutes walk from the main pedestrian entrance on Effort Street.

Reference: St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Bereavement Book

Review Date: February 2026

Publication Date: February 2024

The Hospital would like to thank RNS Publications for publishing this information and the following pages contain some features from services o ering their help at this time.

Whilst the Hospital is grateful of their support it does not endorse or recommend any of the services that they provide.

It is distressing to deal with a bereavement and unsolicited mail can be insensitive and destructive during a grieving process.

By scanning the below QR code on your phone or visiting www.stopmail.co.uk, we are able to securely share this information with mailing organisations and under the Data Protection Act the information will not be used for any other purpose.

Other benefits reduce the possibility of identity fraud, such as assumed identity and you will only have to supply the information once.

This publication has been jointly developed between ourselves and the hospital. We hope that it has been or will be of help at this time and we welcome any comments or suggestions that you may have.

Please contact us either by phone, email or by post. 01253