Mortuary

Post-mortem examinations are carried out for two main reasons:

• Coroner’s: If the cause of a death is unknown, or when a death happens unexpectedly or suddenly, it is referred to a Coroner who may then order a post-mortem examination. By law, Coroners' post-mortem examinations can take place without the consent of the family.
• Hospital: At the request of the family of a deceased person in order to provide information about illness and cause of death for research or educational purposes. In these cases consent must be obtained from the deceased's family.  A Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) must have been issued. 

Some deaths are required to be reported to the Coroner. These include: 

• Cases where no attending doctor knows the cause of death. This normally applies to patients dying within 24 hours of admission to hospital.
• Deaths related to accident, including fractures, or overdose - whenever this may have occurred.
• Neglect, including hypothermia.
• If the death could be due to an industrial disease or related in any way to the deceased’s employment e.g. asbestosis and mesothelioma.
• Deaths closely related to a medical procedure or operation whether invasive or not or where litigation is threatened.

To report a case to the Coroner, the Coroner's officers should be contacted. After discussion, the Coroner may then order a post mortem examination, or the treating doctor may be instructed to issue the MCCD. If there is any uncertainty as to whether a case is reportable to the Coroner, it is best to speak to a Coroner's officer to seek their advice.  Post mortem results are obtained from the Coroner’s office, mortuary staff have no access to these records.

If a doctor is in a position to issue the MCCD then it is their legal obligation to do so; whether relatives are prepared to consent to post-mortem has no bearing on the matter. 

The coroner's system should never be used in an attempt to obtain a hospital post-mortem against relatives' wishes.

If you or the relative of a deceased wish to have a hospital post-mortem carried out you need to obtain a signed consent form from a suitable relative.  Information on qualifying relationships can be found on the Human Tissue Authority website under the Codes of Practice.

Consent for post mortem examination must be obtained by the Consultant or Specialist registrar who cared for the patient and they will be accompanied by a member of staff who has specialist training in bereavement and in obtaining consent for post mortems.

The completed consent form is then left with the patient affairs officer who will liaise with the mortuary staff to arrange.

The results of hospital post mortem examinations are obtained from the pathologist who performs the examination. Mortuary staff do not have access to post mortem results.