Related News

Eurovision star and face of Bisto gravy dies

Eurovision star and face of Bisto gravy dies

April 19, 2025
South Korean air force accidentally drops bombs on homes, injuring 15

South Korean air force accidentally drops bombs on homes, injuring 15

March 6, 2025
Fujitsu agrees to talks over contributing to Post Office scandal victims’ compensation

Fujitsu agrees to talks over contributing to Post Office scandal victims’ compensation

March 7, 2025

Browse by Category

  • Blockchain
  • Breaking News
  • Business
  • Crypto Market
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Entertainment
  • Health Care
  • Politics
  • Technology
  • UK News
  • US News
  • World

Related News

Eurovision star and face of Bisto gravy dies

Eurovision star and face of Bisto gravy dies

April 19, 2025
South Korean air force accidentally drops bombs on homes, injuring 15

South Korean air force accidentally drops bombs on homes, injuring 15

March 6, 2025
Fujitsu agrees to talks over contributing to Post Office scandal victims’ compensation

Fujitsu agrees to talks over contributing to Post Office scandal victims’ compensation

March 7, 2025

Browse by Category

  • Blockchain
  • Breaking News
  • Business
  • Crypto Market
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Entertainment
  • Health Care
  • Politics
  • Technology
  • UK News
  • US News
  • World
IIHS NEWS - AI Curated content
  • Home
  • UK News
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • US News
  • World
  • Technology
  • Politics
  • Health Care
  • Crypto
No Result
View All Result
CONTRIBUTE
IIHS NEWS - AI Curated content
  • Home
  • UK News
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • US News
  • World
  • Technology
  • Politics
  • Health Care
  • Crypto
No Result
View All Result
IIHS NEWS - AI Curated content
No Result
View All Result
Home Breaking News

‘You can’t move on’: Why families are facing agonising waits to bury their loved ones

Sarah Taylor by Sarah Taylor
April 19, 2025
in Breaking News, UK News, World
0
‘You can’t move on’: Why families are facing agonising waits to bury their loved ones
74
SHARES
1.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Changes to how death certificates are issued in England and Wales have made the grieving process more “stressful”, according to bereaved families.

You might also like

Lionesses star explains what ‘Proper England’ is

Photograph of Queen released to celebrate 78th birthday

‘Reckless’ driver who caused deaths of mother and daughter on Boxing Day jailed

Anne Short died on New Year’s Eve, only a few months after she was diagnosed with cancer.

Her son Elliot, 30, from Newport, South Wales, says the grieving process was made harder after having to wait eight weeks to hold her funeral.

“Quite frankly, it’s ridiculous, when you’re already going through all this pain and suffering as a family,” he told Sky News.

“You can’t move on, you can’t do anything, you can’t arrange anything, you can’t feel that they’re at peace, you can’t put yourself at peace, because of a process that’s been put in that nobody seems to know anything about at the moment.”

That process has been introduced by the government to address “concerns” about how causes of death were previously scrutinised, following high-profile criminal cases such as those of Harold Shipman and Lucy Letby.

Up until last September, causes of death could be signed off by a GP, but now they have to be independently scrutinised by a medical examiner, before a death certificate can be issued.

‘I felt helpless’

Mr Short said he was ringing “twice a day” for a progress update, but that it was “going through too many sets of hands”.

Until the death certificate was issued, Ms Short’s body could not be released into the care of the funeral director.

“The main stress for me was knowing that she was up there [at the hospital] and I couldn’t move her, so I felt helpless, powerless,” he said.

“I felt like I’d let her down in a lot of ways. I know now, looking back, that there’s nothing that we could have done, but at the time it was adding a lot of stress. I just wanted her out of there.”

‘Something has to be done’

Mr Short fears there’s a risk the new process might defeat its purpose.

“There’s other people that I know that have lost since, where it’s been in a care home or something like that, where they haven’t been happy with the care they’ve had, but they haven’t raised that because you’re in this bubble of grief and you just want to get it done,” he said.

“Something has to be done about that because I think it just drags on the grief and there’s obviously a danger then of it being against the reasons why they’re trying to do it.”

Arrangements after the death of his father less than two years ago was a “much easier process”, according to Mr Short.

“I lost my father as well 15 months before, so we went through the process prior to this coming in and we had the death certificate, he died at home, but we had it within three days,” he added.

‘State of limbo’

James Tovey is the sixth generation of his family running Tovey Bros, a funeral director in Newport.

He told Sky News that the delays were having a “huge impact” on the business and that the families they serve were being “left in a state of limbo” for weeks after their bereavement.

“I would say that most funerals will take place perhaps two to four weeks after the person’s passed away, whereas now it’s much more like four to six weeks, so it is quite a significant difference,” he said.

“It’s one thing on top of an already distressing time for them and we’re frustrated and upset for [the families] as much as anybody else and it’s just annoying that we can’t do anything about it.”

Mr Tovey said that the reform was “very useful” and he remained supportive of it.

“It’s just the delays. I’m sure they can do something about that over time, but it’s just waiting for that to happen, and I wish that could be addressed sooner rather than later,” he added.

“It does put pressure on other people, it’s not just ourselves, it’s pressure on the hospitals, on crematoria, on the registrar service and everyone else involved in our profession.

“But of course all of us we’re there to serve the families, and we’re just upset for them and wish we could do more to help.”

The National Association of Funeral Directors said some areas of England and Wales are experiencing much shorter delays than others, but has called for “urgent action”.

Rachel Bradburne, its director of external affairs, said the system was “introduced for all the right reasons” but that it was “not working as well as we need it to”.

“Funeral directors are relaying stories of delays, frustration, and bottlenecks on a daily basis, and urgent action is required to review and recalibrate the new system,” she added.

‘Unintended consequences’

Dr Roger Greene is the deputy chief executive of bereavement charity AtALoss.

He told Sky News that the delays were “one of the unintended consequences of what’s a well-intended reform of a system”.

“What has actually happened is that the number of deaths now requiring independent scrutiny has trebled,” he said.

“So in England and Wales in 2023, the last full year of data, there were nearly 200,000 deaths reported to a coroner, whereas there were 600,000 deaths.

“Now, what is the change in the process is that all deaths now need to be reported for independent scrutiny.”

Dr Greene said there may be ways the system could be “tweaked a little bit”, such as giving medical examiners the ability to issue an interim death certificate.

“We believe that people can process grief well if they’re given the opportunity and they’ve got a proper understanding,” he added.

“But the systems that we have in the country need to be able to work as well with that diversity of faith and culture.”

‘Vital improvements’

Jason Shannon, lead medical examiner for Wales, told Sky News he recognised “the importance of a seamless, accurate and timely death certification process”.

“Medical examiners are one part of the wider death certification process and were introduced to give additional independent safeguards as well as to give bereaved people a voice, which they hadn’t had before,” he added.

“Medical examiners have no role in determining where the body of a family’s relative is cared for and except in a minority of deaths where a coroner needs to be involved, that decision should be one that a family is fully empowered to make in a way that is best for them.”

A Welsh government spokesperson said they “would like to apologise to any families who have experienced delays in receiving death certificates”.

The government said it was working with the lead medical examiner and the NHS in Wales “to understand where the delays are” and how to provide bereaved families with “additional support”.

Read more from Sky News:
Families feel impact of spiralling funeral costs
Calls for funeral sector to be regulated

Follow our channel and never miss an update.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said it recognised there were “some regional variations in how long it takes to register a death”.

They added that the changes to the death certification process “support vital improvements to patient safety and aim to provide comfort and clarity to the bereaved”.

Read Entire Article
Tags: Breaking NewsSkynewsUK
Share30Tweet19
Sarah Taylor

Sarah Taylor

Recommended For You

Lionesses star explains what ‘Proper England’ is

by Sarah Taylor
July 16, 2025
0
Lionesses star explains what ‘Proper England’ is

Beyond the home comforts at the Lionesses' temporary base in Zurich, a permanent slice of English life can be found here at the Nelson.

Read more

Photograph of Queen released to celebrate 78th birthday

by Sarah Taylor
July 16, 2025
0
Photograph of Queen released to celebrate 78th birthday

A photograph of the Queen has been released to celebrate her 78th birthday.

Read more

‘Reckless’ driver who caused deaths of mother and daughter on Boxing Day jailed

by Sarah Taylor
July 16, 2025
0
‘Reckless’ driver who caused deaths of mother and daughter on Boxing Day jailed

A driver who caused the deaths of a mother and daughter on Boxing Day while racing another car through traffic lights at more than 80mph has been jailed.

Read more

‘Betrayed’ Afghan interpreter says family ‘waiting for death’ under Taliban after UK data breach

by Sarah Taylor
July 16, 2025
0
‘Betrayed’ Afghan interpreter says family ‘waiting for death’ under Taliban after UK data breach

An Afghan interpreter who worked with the British military has told Sky News he feels "betrayed by the British government" after a massive data breach saw his personal...

Read more

Afghan data breach timeline: The fallout behind the scenes

by Sarah Taylor
July 16, 2025
0
Afghan data breach timeline: The fallout behind the scenes

The details of a massive data breach by the British military over Afghan nationals have come out this week. But behind the scenes, the fallout has been ongoing...

Read more
Next Post
How Japan could shape the future of the NHS

How Japan could shape the future of the NHS

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related News

Eurovision star and face of Bisto gravy dies

Eurovision star and face of Bisto gravy dies

April 19, 2025
South Korean air force accidentally drops bombs on homes, injuring 15

South Korean air force accidentally drops bombs on homes, injuring 15

March 6, 2025
Fujitsu agrees to talks over contributing to Post Office scandal victims’ compensation

Fujitsu agrees to talks over contributing to Post Office scandal victims’ compensation

March 7, 2025

Browse by Category

  • Blockchain
  • Breaking News
  • Business
  • Crypto Market
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Entertainment
  • Health Care
  • Politics
  • Technology
  • UK News
  • US News
  • World
IIHS NEWS – AI Curated content

IIHS.NEWS will be firmly committed to the public interest and democratic values.

CATEGORIES

  • Blockchain
  • Breaking News
  • Business
  • Crypto Market
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Entertainment
  • Health Care
  • Politics
  • Technology
  • UK News
  • US News
  • World

BROWSE BY TAG

Blockchain Breaking News Business Entertainment Health Care Insidebitcoins newsbtc Politico Skynews Techcrunch Technology UK US USMagazine Variety World

© 2025 iihs.news - all rights reserved. YYC TECH CONSULTING.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • UK News
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • US News
  • World
  • Technology
  • Politics
  • Health Care
  • Crypto

© 2025 iihs.news - all rights reserved. YYC TECH CONSULTING.