We understand that the loss of a relative or friend is an extremely difficult time. We would like to offer our condolences to you and to reassure you that there is help available, should you require it.
Our aim is to provide you with support and assistance to help you through the procedures following a death. This booklet is a practical guide for the first steps you need to take following the death of your relative or friend.
Bereavement Officer
The Bereavement Officer will provide advice and information about what happens next and the formal procedures following a death. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Bereavement Office on 01926 495321, extension 8131. The Office is open between the hours of 9am and 4pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays) and is located at Warwick Hospital.
The Bereavement Officer is also the primary contact for relatives and friends of patients who died at Warwick Hospital.
Spending time with your relative/friend
Saying goodbye to the one you love is important. It can be distressing, but it often helps to see the person who has died. Visiting your relative on the ward just after death will be possible for a limited time.
After this time, families have the option to visit their relative/friend at the hospital, and later at the funeral directors if they wish. Please notify the Bereavement team if this is something you would like them to arrange for you. Viewing appointments are available at 11am and 2pm on weekdays.
What Happens Next
If your relative or friend died at Warwick Hospital, the Bereavement Officer will contact the next of kin or nominated representative the following day, or on Monday if the death was at the weekend. The doctor will establish the cause of death and complete the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death and, where required, the Cremation Certificate. This will be done in a timely manner; however, these are important documents, and they need to be completed by a doctor who directly cared for your relative or friend in the last 28 days.
Medical Certificate of Cause of Death
When someone dies, the doctor or sometimes the coroner must issue a medical certificate, giving the cause of death. This is called the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) and is a legal document which must be completed in accordance with regulations by a doctor who has seen the patient in the last 28 days or has seen the patient after death and treated them during their last illness.
Our aim is for the doctor to complete the certificate the next working day, although sometimes there are unavoidable delays in the issuing of the certificate. This is often due to legal considerations surrounding who is eligible to complete the death certificate, and the need to seek approval from the coroner.
The certificate and relevant medical records will then be passed to the Medical Examiner for an independent review. Once the cause of death is approved, a Medical Examiner Officer will contact the next of kin or nominated representative to advise when it has been approved and the cause of death given.
The MCCD will be sent to the Registrar of Births and Deaths electronically by the Medical Examiner Officer, along with the next of kin or nominated representative’s contact details.
The Medical Certificate of Cause of Death is required before the death can be registered with the Registrar of Births and Deaths. We advise you not to make an appointment with the Registration Office until you have been notified the cause of death has been approved. You will not need to collect the certificate as it will be sent directly to the Registration Office.
In some circumstances the death will need to be referred to the coroner for further investigation. If this is necessary, the doctor will complete an electronic referral to the coroner and a Coroner Officer will contact the next of kin or designated representative.
When the Coroner has to be involved
In certain situations, the hospital cannot issue the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death and will need to report the death to the Coroner’s Office. The coroner is an independent judicial officer with statutory responsibility for the legal investigation of the cause of death in some circumstances.
These include:
• Where the cause of death is unexpected or unknown
• Where the patient had a fall or a fracture that needs to be included on the medical certificate
• If the death is due to an industrial disease
• Where the cause of death is deemed as being unnatural
• Where the death occurs during, or shortly after, surgery
Once the referral has been reviewed, the Coroner’s Office may decide that the hospital doctor can issue the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death. The Coroner’s Officer will advise you of this decision.
The Coroner may order a post-mortem examination to determine the precise cause of death. This is a legal decision and does not require the consent of the next of kin. Following a post-mortem the Coroner’s Office will issue the appropriate paperwork allowing the death to be registered.
In some circumstances the coroner may request an inquest into the death; this is common when a fall or a fracture is included within the Medical Certificate.
Is a post-mortem required?
Occasionally a doctor may ask for a post-mortem examination to be carried out to understand more clearly what happened.
If the doctor would like a hospital post-mortem to be carried out, s/he must discuss this with the next of kin or nominated representative and request their permission. You will be invited to attend the hospital and meet the Doctor and a HTA (Human Tissue Authority) trained member of staff. At this meeting, the request for a post-mortem will be explained and your questions will be answered before you are asked to sign a consent form. The next of kin does not need to give their permission if they do not wish for this to take place.
Registering the Death
The Registry Office will contact the next of kin or nominated representative when they have received the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death from the Medical Examiner Officer.
An appointment will be offered for the next of kin or nominated representative to attend the Registry Office to complete and collect the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death.
All Registration Offices operate an appointment system, please await a telephone call from the Registry Office to make an appointment before attending to prevent unnecessary waiting. Please note you may not register the death unless the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death has been issued.
The registration should take approximately 40 minutes. However, in some circumstances the Registrar may have to refer to the coroner which may result in further time being necessary.
Warwickshire Registration Offices are located at:
• Warwick
• Stratford upon Avon
• Rugby
• Nuneaton
If it is not convenient for you to visit the Registration Office for the district where the death took place, you can go to any other Registration Office in England and Wales to make a declaration of the death. Please notify the Medical Examiner Officer of this when they make contact to confirm the cause of death has been approved.
The Registrar will ask you the following details relating to the deceased:
• Full name
• Any surname previously used, including maiden name
• Date and place of birth
• Occupation
• Usual address
• The full name, date of birth and occupation of his/her spouse or civil partner
The following documents are helpful to take when registering the death, but please do not worry if you cannot find them:
• Medical card
• Birth certificate
• Marriage certificate
The Registrar will issue you with a Green Form (the Certificate for Burial or Cremation); this form will be sent to your chosen Funeral Director.
Tell Us Once Service
The Registration Service provide a ‘Tell us Once’ Service to help with informing government organisations about the death of your relative or friend.
The Registrar will be able to provide a reference number allowing access to use the Tell Us Once service, once the death has been registered. The service allows you to report the death to lots of central and local government departments (such as DWP for state pension, HMRC for tax) in one go.
Death Certificates
The Registrar can also provide you with a death certificate: there is a fee to be paid to the Registration Service for any death certificate issued.
The death certificate will be required by banks, building societies, solicitors or for private pension and insurance claims. You may therefore need to purchase more than one copy.
Cardiac Pacemakers and other Devices
There are many different types of medical devices in use, many of which can cause significant damage to the cremator if not removed or deactivated. It is very important that you inform the Bereavement Officer or Medical Examiner Officer and your chosen Funeral Director if you are aware your relative or friend had a medical device in place.
Collecting property and valuables
Any property or valuables belonging to the deceased patient left at the hospital will be kept safely. Items classed as non-valuable will be taken to the Bereavement Office. Valuable items will be put into a secure storage bag and handed to the Security Office to be put in the hospital safe. Please be aware that it requires two authorised key holders to open the safe.
The Bereavement Officer will inquire about any property when they contact you the following day. They will make arrangements with you to collect the items when you are ready. Unfortunately, it is not possible to store property after 30 days and so arrangements should be made for collection prior to this time.
Arranging the Funeral
You do not have to wait until the death has been registered before making arrangements for the funeral, but you may not feel ready to do this immediately.
Please do not book a funeral too soon if you have been advised a referral to the coroner or a post-mortem is required. Most people appoint a Funeral Director to make arrangements on their behalf and they will meet with you to discuss what you would like.
Most Funeral Directors belong to one or more of the recognised associations listed which have a code of practice which they must adhere to:
• National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD)
• The Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF)
It is not essential to employ a Funeral Director; some families will choose to arrange the funeral themselves. However, please be aware that there are strict guidelines which must be followed. These can be found at the Cemeteries and Cremation Department at your local council.
Funerals can be expensive and although basic costs tend to be similar the final cost can vary considerably. You may wish to contact several Funeral Directors in order to compare prices and the level of service before you make a decision. It is useful to check your relative or friend had contributed to a scheme, or if there are any insurance policies in place which pay for the funeral. If you have any worries at all about the cost of the funeral, please ask for advice before making arrangements from the Funeral Director or the Bereavement Officer at the Hospital.
A Funeral Expenses Payment is available from the Department for Work and Pensions. The eligibility criteria are:
• You need to be claiming certain benefits or tax credits
• You need to meet the rules on your relationship with the person who has died and you are arranging the funeral in the UK
Further information can be found on the Government website. Get help with funeral costs (Funeral Expenses Payment): How it works - gov.uk
Wills and Estates
When a person dies somebody has to deal with their estate (money, property and possessions left) by collecting in all the money, paying any debts and distributing what is left to those people entitled to it.
You should check if your relative or friend had prepared a Will as soon as possible as this may include special requests about funeral arrangements.
If there is a Will, it should confirm who has been appointed to administer the estate, they will be the executor. Where the person did not leave a Will, or left a Will which did not name an administrator the estate is usually dealt with by the next of kin.
The person administering the estate may need to apply to the Court for Probate. This can be completed online or by post if preferred, www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate/apply-for-probate.
The Probate Service will issue either:
• Grant of Representation or
• Letter of Administration
These give the applicant the Court’s authority to administer the deceased person’s estate.
You will not need Probate if the estate either:
• Passes to the surviving spouse/civil partner because it was held in joint names
• The value of the estate is below a certain amount
It should be noted that the first item to be paid out of a person’s estate is the cost of the funeral and this has priority over all other payments. If you have difficulty in dealing with the deceased person’s estate, you should seek advice from a solicitor or the Citizens Advice Bureau.
Stopping Junk Mail and Social Media
If someone you know has died, the amount of unwanted marketing post being sent to them can be greatly reduced which helps to stop painful daily reminders.
By registering with the free service www.stopmail.co.uk the names and addresses of the deceased are removed from mailing lists, stopping most advertising mail within as little as six weeks. If you cannot access the internet, you can call 0808 168 9607, where you will be asked for very simple information that will only take a few minutes to complete. This is a free of charge service provided by the Bereavement Support Network will actively reduce the unwanted marketing mail but can also help reduce the likelihood of identity theft following the death of someone close.
Additionally to Stop Mail, a comparable service can also be accessed from the Bereavement Register or Deceased Preference Service if you would prefer to use them.
Many people have social media accounts, and you may wish to deactivate them, turn them to a ‘memorialised account’ or leave them as a ‘live’ account. To close an account, you will need to access the Help Centre and search ‘deceased family member’. You have the option to memorialise 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
Learning from Deaths
It is a national requirement that the Trust looks at all hospital deaths to ensure that the best possible care is given and that lessons are learnt. The Medical Examiner Service will identify any cases that they consider the Trust should carry out a mortality review. Findings are reported and monitored through the Trust’s mortality review group.
In addition to this, it is very important that we investigate any concerns you may have about your relative or friend’s care. If there is anything that you are worried about that you did not manage to raise previously, please let the Bereavement Officer or Medical Examiner Officer know. It may be helpful for you to have a meeting with the treating team to discuss your concerns and the officers will be able to arrange this.
Further Advice and Support
At each point over the next few days there will be people who are able to provide support and advice, including the funeral director, the person conducting the funeral service, your own family doctor as well as hospital staff and bereavement care agencies. Below is a list of services and their contact details:
Bereavement Office
South Warwickshire University
NHS Foundation Trust
Medical Examiner Office
South Warwickshire
01926 495321 ext 8131
Email: Bereavement.Team@swft.nhs.uk
01926 495321 ext 8140, 8165 or 8141
Warwickshire Registration Service 0300 555 0255 www.warwickshire.gov.uk/ registrations
Coroner’s Office
01926 738409, 738410, 738411, 738412 or 738413
Email: coroner@warwickshire.gov.uk
Warwick District Council 01926 450000 www.warwickdc.gov.uk
Stratford on Avon District Council 01789 267575 www.stratford.gov.uk
Our aim is to support bereaved families and friends as much as we can. If you have any comments or suggestions about the Bereavement or Medical Examiner Service, we would like to hear from you.
Please send your feedback to the Patient Experience Manager at Warwick Hospital, Lakin Road, Warwick, CV34 5BW.
Email: PatientExperience@swft.nhs.uk
Equality Statement
At South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust we are fully committed to equality and diversity, both as an employer and as a service provider. We have a policy statement in our Equality Strategy that clearly outlines our commitment to equality for service users, patients and staff:
• You and your family have the right to be treated fairly and be routinely involved in decisions about your treatment and care. You can expect to be treated with dignity and respect. You will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
• You have a responsibility to treat other service users, patients and our staff with dignity and respect.
Our information for patients can also be made available in other languages, large print, Braille or audio format. To arrange this please ask the staff providing your care or contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).
PALS
We offer a Patient Advice and Liaison Service. This is a confidential service for families offering support with any questions or concerns about local health services. You can contact the service by the direct telephone line on 01926 600054, by email at pals@swft.nhs.uk or by visiting the PALS Office which is located at Warwick Hospital.
SWH Number: 00024
Version Number: 2.0
Publication Date: August 2025
Review Date: July 2030
Author: Bereavement Officer
WFT is proud to be a smoke free Trust from January 2016. This means that you cannot smoke on any SWFT site. Please contact our Tobacco Dependency Service if you require support to stop smoking.
Telephone - 01926 495321
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.
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