We would like to offer our sincere condolences to you and your family at this sad and difficult time.
The dandelion initiative was implemented as the hospitals commitment to improving end of life care.
Our aim is to promote dignity in death by making small changes that will impact upon the patient and family experience in a positive manner.
This booklet has been produced to provide some practical help and advice during the early days of your bereavement.
The dandelion has a surprising number of different meanings - it is known for its ability to thrive in difficult conditions.
In medieval times the blowing of the white seeds would grant the person a wish. We associate this “wish” with the need to know what is important to people at the end of life.
The yellow flower of the dandelion symbolises the ability to rise above life’s challenges and can be used as a visual reminder of the warmth and power of the sun, especially when grief makes it hard to remain happy.
When tomorrow starts without me, and I am not here to see, If the sun should rise and find your eyes, filled with tears for me.
I wish so much you would not cry, the way you did today, While thinking of the many things, we did not get to say.
I know how much you love me, as much as I love you, and each time you think of me, I know you’ll miss me too.
When tomorrow starts without me, do not think we are far apart, for every time you think of me, I am right there in your heart.
~ David Romano
The Bereavement Office will make an initial phone call to the nominated representative, the next working day. If you would like to contact the office, please call 0300 443 0115.
One of our Bereavement Officers will take some details from the nominated representative, this is usually the person responsible for arranging the funeral. The Medical Certificate of Cause of Death is required to be completed by a doctor, who treated the deceased within their lifetime, and can establish the cause of death. They will be familiar with the patient’s medical history, investigations and treatments while they were in hospital. When the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death is completed, it will be sent via email to Southend Registration Services, who will call you to book an appointment to register the death. You will be given a certified copy once you attend your face-to-face registration appointment.
This process should be completed within 2 working days and is dependent upon the availability of the doctor, who is responsible for the completion of the required documentation.
Please note if the death occurred overnight the Bereavement Team will start the process the next working day.
In some circumstances it may be necessary for the doctor to refer the death to HM Coroner. A referral to HM Coroner does not automatically mean a post-mortem is required and many referrals are resolved with minimal delay.
We advise that a date for the funeral should not be booked until you have registered the death.
Although we endeavour to consider all requests to visit your loved one in the Dandelion Suite, this may not always be possible and remains at the Mortuary Manager’s discretion.
Please contact the Bereavement Office in the first instance, if this is something you would like to request.
MSE hospitals request this is restricted to 2 family members and is only permissible if you did not have the opportunity to visit the ward or department at the time of death.
Family visits are not available once the Funeral Director has been appointed and the paperwork for the release of the deceased is complete.
We advise you to contact your Funeral Director to visit your loved one, once arrangements have been made to transfer from the hospital into their care.
Visits can be arranged Monday to Friday by appointment only, via the following contact numbers:
Southend Bereavement Office - 0300 443 0115
Southend Mortuary Department - 0300 443 0382
If your loved one has been referred to the Coroner, please contact the Mortuary Department and ensure that you have the Coroners’ case reference number to hand.
The purpose of the service is to give an independent view on causes of death and the care and treatment provided. Medical Examiners review all deaths apart from those that need to be investigated by the Coroner, and they are required by regulations to make all enquiries they consider relevant. The service was implemented across the NHS in England with the aim of improving death certification and ensuring that the bereaved are kept at the centre of the process. By introducing this service, the NHS aims to provide an opportunity for the bereaved to ask questions about the cause of death and discuss the care that their loved one received prior to their death.
Who are Medical Examiners and Medical Examiner Officers?
Medical Examiners (MEs) are senior NHS doctors, who have completed specialist training, and who are independent of the healthcare professionals that looked after the deceased. Their role is part of the statutory death certification process introduced on 9 September 2024.
Medical Examiner Officers (MEOs) work with Medical Examiners. They assist the MEs and help answer queries from the bereaved and can discuss any concerns they may have. They support the MEs in their role of scrutinising the circumstances leading to and cause of death. They are a point of contact and source of advice for the bereaved.
Our Bereavement Nurse Specialists can support families who may be experiencing difficulties with their loss and can signpost you to the relevant specialist supportive services.
If you would like the opportunity to speak with a Bereavement Clinical Nurse Specialist, you can contact them via email on mse.bereavementnurses@nhs.net or telephone the relevant site Bereavement Office.
The Hospital Chaplains are available to offer care and support to bereaved relatives and friends. This care is offered irrespective of the individual’s religion or belief.
Specific religious needs can also be supported by the Chaplaincy Team or Local Faith Community Leaders.
The Chaplains are available during normal office hours to provide you with support, but for urgent end of life care, can also be contacted out of hours via the hospital switchboard.
The Chaplaincy Service can be contacted as follows:
There are specific circumstances, when the hospital doctor is required by law to report the death to HM Coroner. This may include the cause of death being unclear, sudden, or suspicious or due to unnatural causes. The Medical Examiner Officer will discuss this with you.
Whilst the bereavement staff will be able to provide you with information relating to the hospital’s procedures following the death of a patient, it is not possible for them to influence any processes, where the offices of the Coroner are involved. HM Coroner is an independent judicial office holder, appointed and paid by the relevant local authority.
HM Coroner is a doctor or lawyer, who has a legal responsibility for establishing the time, date, place, and cause of death and any circumstances that may have contributed to the death.
To achieve this HM Coroner may, in some circumstances, request for a post-mortem examination to be carried out. Occasionally a specialist post-mortem may be required. If this is the case, it may be necessary to move the deceased to another hospital. This would only occur under the instruction of the Coroner’s Office.
The Coroner’s Officer is available Monday to Friday during office hours and can be contacted on 0333 0135 000.
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.
Even when the doctors know the cause of death, they may make a request for a hospital post-mortem, to gain further knowledge about the illness. Unlike a Coroner’s postmortem, this can only be done with the agreement of the nominated representative and after a consent form has been signed.
The Bereavement Team would be happy to advise, should you have any queries.
You no longer need to attend the hospital to collect the Medical Cause of Death Certificate. It will be sent electronically to The Registrar by the Medical Examiner Team.
Once this has been completed the nominated representative will be contacted by Southend Registration Services to arrange a face-to-face appointment.
You will also need:
• The person’s NHS number
• The person’s birth certificate, if possible
• The name, email, and address of your funeral director
The registrar will ask for the person’s:
• Date and place of death
• Full name (any other names they used or maiden name)
• Home address and postcode
• Date and place of birth
• Deceased’s last occupation
• Their spouse’s full name and occupation (if applicable)
Due to the high volume of telephone calls received, it is advised that you use the webpage if you can. The webpage explains the process.
Make sure you order enough certificates. You will need these when you are arranging the finances of the person who has died and may need to give them to banks, insurance, pension companies and to the executor of the Will.
All certificates are chargeable, and prices are subject to change.
Once the death has been registered you will receive:
• The death certificates you paid for when you booked the appointment.
• A certificate for burial or cremation (known as the ‘Green Form’) - this gives permission for burial or an application for cremation.
• Access details so you can use the ‘Tell Us Once’ Service (this will reduce the number of certificates you need and the number of calls you have to make, to inform government related services about the death).
If you have not paid for any certificates in advance, you can order certificates online from the Essex Record website: www.essexrecordoffice.co.uk/services/certificate-copies
A registrar will explain the ‘Tell Us Once’ service when you register the death. They will either complete the ‘Tell Us Once’ service with you or give you a unique reference number so you can use the service yourself online or by phone.
You must use the service within 28 days of getting your unique reference number.
If you cannot register the death because an inquest is underway, you can still ask a registrar for a unique reference number. You will need to get an interim death certificate from the coroner holding the inquest first. They will notify:
• HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) - to deal with personal tax and to cancel benefits and credits, for example child benefit and tax credits.
• Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - to cancel benefits and entitlements, for example universal credit or state pension.
• The Passport Office - to cancel a British passport.
• The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) - to cancel a licence, remove the person as the keeper of up to 5 vehicles and end the vehicle tax.
If you have any difficulty in dealing with the deceased’s property, possessions, or guardianship of their children, you can get advice from a solicitor or The Citizens Advice Bureau as soon as possible. If there is no Will, speaking with a solicitor may be helpful. Many solicitors are prepared to offer up to half an hour of legal advice for a small fee; some even offer a free initial consultation to discuss your situation.
Probate is a document issued by the probate registry confirming that an executor has the right to wind up the estate of the person who has died. The ‘estate’ is the house, money and savings left by someone when they die (probate may not be necessary if the estate is small). The executor is the person chosen in the Will to sort out the estate and make sure the conditions of the Will are carried out. For further information on probate and inheritance please contact the helpline or visit the website below:
Helpline: 0300 123 1072
Website: www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate
Property Personal belongings should be collected by the nominated representative. All personal possessions will be returned to you by the ward as soon as possible after the death. Where this does not happen, the items will be temporarily kept by the ward until arrangements have been made between the ward and nominated representative regarding collection.
When you make initial contact with the Bereavement Team, they will talk to you about making funeral arrangements. To assist the team to ensure all legal documentation is completed in a timely manner, you may be asked if you have thought about appointing a Funeral Director and whether you have considered a burial or cremation for your loved one.
Whilst we acknowledge that you may not have thought about this on first contact, you will need to make the Bereavement Team aware prior to registration; this will allow them to liaise with the Funeral Directors and ensure your loved one is transferred into their care at the earliest opportunity.
You may find it helpful to make provisional arrangements with a Funeral Director of your choice, but please do not book a firm date, until the death has been registered.
We request that Funeral Directors collect each patient within three working days of being formally engaged by families and being notified by us that all required documentation is in place.
Funeral Directors charge for their services once you have appointed them and have agreed a contract. They can advise and support you with funeral arrangements and will discuss arrangements for the care and accommodation of your loved one whilst they remain at the hospital.
While resting with Mid and South Essex Hospitals, your loved one will be cared for, either in one of our onsite accommodations at Basildon, Southend or Broomfield Hospitals, or at one of our offsite accommodation facilities.
We strongly encourage you to ask the Funeral Directors to provide you with a clear guide of the services they provide and what fees might be incurred.
Your loved one will remain in the care of our mortuary team until the registration process has been completed or, if HM Coroner is involved, the Coroner has finished their investigation.
In extenuating circumstances and in agreement with the Mortuary Manager, it may be possible for your funeral director to request an early release from the hospital and to transfer your loved one to the funeral directors, prior to registration.
For further information, regarding fees, please discuss these with your funeral director.
For any other questions, The Bereavement Team would be happy to advise.
If you are currently receiving income support or other benefits, you may be entitled to financial help with funeral expenses. The DWP will be glad to answer any general enquiries.
It is a statutory requirement for all child deaths under the age of 18 years to be referred to the Child Death Review Team (CDRT) to meet requirements under the Children’s Act 2004. This applies to natural, unnatural, known, or unknown causes, at home, in hospital or in the community.
Support and guidance will be given by the CDRT or by the hospital maternity bereavement team.
If this death has occurred before the birth has been registered (newborn baby), the birth will still need to be registered within 42 days using the information previously given.
You should call the registry office on the central registration number to book an appointment. To avoid repeated and upsetting conversations, please ensure you inform the registry office that you are registering the birth, but the baby has died.
The Children’s Funeral Fund for England can help to pay for some of the costs of a funeral for a child under 18 or a baby stillborn after the 24th week of pregnancy.
It is not means-tested: what you earn or how much you have in savings will not affect what you get.
The burial or cremation must take place in England. For more information, please visit: www.gov.uk/child-funeral-costs
Honouring the memory of your loved one through charitable donations
You may wish to consider donating to Mid and South Essex hospitals charity. The donation will be used within our hospitals to benefit services provided to our patients and their families.
If you chose to make a dedicated donation for the care and support received during the bereavement process, you may wish to make an ‘in memory’ donation to our Bereavement Fund which supports the Bereavement Service.
To donate to the bereavement fund or to make another charitable donation, please contact Mid and South Essex hospital charity on 0300 443 0052 or email: mse.charity@nhs.net
Registration Number 1057266
If the deceased carried a donor card or had expressed a wish in life to donate tissue after their death, we would like to make sure that their wishes are fulfilled.
Many people find it comforting that something positive can happen from a sad and difficult loss and can give some families the option of making a difference to others.
You may not realise, that donated tissues such as skin, bone, corneas, and heart valves can be used to improve the quality of life for others. Please be aware, this needs to be arranged within 24 to 48 hours after death.
If this is something that you would like to consider, advice can be given by the bereavement team, or you may prefer to contact the Specialist Referral Team at the National Referral Centre on: 0800 432 0559.
SANDS
(Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity)
Helpline 0808 164 3332 helpline@sands.org.uk www.sands.org.uk
Support after Murder & Manslaughter (SAMM) 0121 472 2912 www.samm.org.uk
Support Line
For children, young people & adults. 01708 765200 www.supportline.org.uk
The Compassionate Friends
Kilburn Grange, Priory Park Road, London NW6 7UJ
Befriending for bereaved parents telephone helpline
Helpline 0345 123 2304
10am - 4pm & 7pm - 10pm, each day www.tcf.org.uk
The Good Grief Trust
The Good Grief Trust provides information for those bereaved or expecting to be bereaved. www.thegoodgrieftrust.org
WAY Widowed & Young
Self-help support for men and women under 50 whose partner or spouse has died. www.widowedandyoung.org.uk
Child Bereavement UK
Helpline: 0800 02 888 40 www.childbereavementuk.org
Department for Work and Pensions
0800 731 7898 www.dwp.gov.uk
Winston’s Wish
Helpline for family, friends and professionals supporting grieving children 08088 020 021 or via online chat www.winstonswish.org/ online- chat/
The registry office for deaths occurring in Leigh-on-Sea, Westcliff, Southend and Shoeburyness (and any death at Southend University Hospital):
Monday to Friday 8.45am - 5pm
The Civic Centre
Victoria Avenue
Southend on Sea
Essex
SS2 6ER
Website: www.southend.gov.uk/registrationservice
Telephone: 01702 215009
The registry office for deaths occurring in Hadleigh, Benfleet, Canvey Island, Rochford, Wakering and Barling:
Monday and Friday 9am - 5pm
Rayleigh Library
132-134 High Street
Rayleigh
Essex
SS6 7BX
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday
South Benfleet Library
264 High Road
South Benfleet
Essex
SS7 5HD
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.
Fuss Free Farewells are dedicated to making funeral services a ordable for everyone and always carrying them out to the highest of standards.
Our funeral services have no hidden costs and all prices include all fees.
We also o er you the following services: Flowers, Horse Drawn Carriages and Orders of Services
From £1,050* Simple Funeral Services
From £2,900*
info@fussfreefarewells.co.uk
*Prices are correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change.
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.
