In Times of Bereavement
In the unfortunate event that a person has passed away, there are three things that must be done in the first few days;
- Get a medical certificate from your GP or hospital doctor (this is necessary to register the death)
- Register the death within 5 days (8 days in Scotland). You will then receive the necessary documents for the funeral.
- Make the necessary funeral arrangements.
Register the death
If the death has been reported to the coroner (or Procurator Fiscal in Scotland) they must give permission before registering the death.
You can register the death if you are a relative, a witness to the death, a hospital administrator or the person making the arrangements with the funeral directors.
You can use the ‘Register a Death’ page on the GOV.UK website that will guide you through the process. This will also explain the registration process for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Arrange the funeral
The funeral can usually only take place after the death is registered. Most people use a funeral director, though you can arrange a funeral yourself.
Funeral directors
Choose a funeral director who is a member of one of the following:
- National Association of Funeral Directors
- National Federation of Funeral Directors
- Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors
These organisations have codes of practice – they must give you a price list when asked.
Some local councils run their own funeral services, for example for non-religious burials. The British Humanist Association can also help with non-religious funerals.
Arranging the funeral yourself
Contact the Cemeteries and Crematorium Department of your local council to arrange a funeral yourself.
Funeral costs
Funeral costs can include:
- funeral director fees
- things the funeral director pays for on your behalf (called ‘disbursements’ or ‘third-party costs’), for example, crematorium or cemetery fees, or a newspaper announcement about the death
- local authority burial or cremation fees
Funeral directors may list all these costs in their quotes.
Self help
We are keen to help patients improve on self help and hope that the following information will offer some insight into that.
Take a look and see if you can improve your own understanding of your health and well-being! Please encourage others to look here too.
Here is a list of ailments that can be safely self managed. You will see that you can take a look via the hyperlink at the other websites which can offer you further information about managing your condition.
Common ailments that can be self managed :
| Back pain NHS | Cold sores NHS |
| Common Cold NHS | Conjunctivitis NHS Information Leaflet |
| Constipation NHS | Cough NHS Information Leaflet |
| Diarrhoea NHS | Dysmenorrhoea (painful periods) NHS |
| Earache NHS | Haemorrhoids NHS |
| Hayfever NHS | Head lice NHS |
| Headache NHS | Heartburn & Indigestion NHS |
| Influenza NHS Information Leaflet | Insect bites NHS |
| Migraine NHS | Nasal congestion NHS |
| Nappy rash NHS | Sore throat NHS Information Leaflet |
| Sinusitis NHS | Sprains and strains NHS |
| Thrush NHS | Warts and Verrucas NHS |
Chronic Pain
There is lots of useful information regarding chronic pain management on the NHS link below:
www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/ways-to-manage-chronic-pain/
Extracting Patient Clinical Information for Research Purposes
The Health and Social Care Information Centre will soon start to extract clinical information from patient’s GP medical records held on computer for research purposes. The information once extracted will remain anonymous. However, you do have the right to object to your personal medical records being used in this way. Please inform the Reception Staff that you object to ‘care data’ being extracted from your GP medical record.