Mortuary

A mortuary is a cool, secure room at a hospital or coroner’s facility where a person who has died is cared for until a funeral director collects them, and where any post-mortem takes place. Many hospitals ask to see the green form, or the coroner’s authority, before they release someone to a funeral director.

When someone is cared for in a mortuary

If your loved one died in hospital, they are cared for in the hospital mortuary until a funeral director collects them, and the bereavement office tells you when that can happen. A mortuary is also used when a death is reported to the coroner, or in Scotland to the procurator fiscal, and while the family waits for the death to be registered. Mortuaries are run by NHS hospital trusts, by local authorities or by coroner services, and funeral directors keep their own refrigerated mortuaries too.

What it costs, and how long it takes

Families are not charged for a hospital or coroner’s mortuary. Where a post-mortem examination is needed, it generally takes place within 2 to 3 working days of the death, or within 24 hours in urgent cases. In Scotland, a post-mortem the procurator fiscal asks for does not need the consent of the next of kin, which mirrors the coroner’s powers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Seeing your loved one there

Many hospital mortuaries have a viewing room, and the bereavement office can sometimes arrange a visit before the funeral director takes over. These visits are by appointment, usually on weekday afternoons, and for a set time; if the coroner is involved, the coroner’s permission is needed first. Most hospitals suggest waiting for the funeral director’s chapel of rest, where there is more time.

Release to the funeral director

Local rules vary between hospital trusts. Some release a child to the parents from the ward when the medical certificate is issued and the coroner is not involved, while others ask for the registration and the green form first. The bereavement office will tell you what your hospital needs.