Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to help ensure that medical certificates of cause of death can be issued outside normal working hours, including weekends and bank holidays.

Responsibility for ensuring that medical examiner services respond to local needs sits with trusts. Most medical examiners’ work can be undertaken during normal office hours with cover for weekends and public holidays likely to be required in most areas. Arrangements at each office should reflect local health priorities and the needs of communities, particularly if there is regular demand for the urgent release of bodies at weekends and public holidays. The National Medical Examiner provides guidance to medical examiner offices for weekend and public holiday cover and for the urgent release of a body in circumstances including where a bereaved families may have particular reasons to request urgent release of the deceased’s body for burial. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.rcpath.org/static/3590bf7f-a43e-4248-980640c5c12354c4/Good-Practice-Series-Urgent-release-of-a-bodyFor-Publication.pdf

Data indicates that 90% of urgent requests for swift scrutiny are met. The chief reason why requests were not met is because the cause of death is complex and therefore additional time was required to determine the cause.