Post mortem taking six months?

[Piggywaspushed]

Hello

I thought this might be a board where people have simialr experience as I am baffled by the PM timeframe for my FIL who recently died and have no recent experience of 'normal'. Other FIL died 10 years ago and PM and results took maybe a fortnight.

Bit of context : FIL was 71. Had been living with leukaemia for about 6 years but doing OK really. No major relapses and all under control.

He developed a really bad cough a few months ago (as did MIL - I have no idea if he was ever tested for Covid). When they consulted specialist he ordered a nasty sounding lung biopsy which required a short overnight hospital stay. No real urgency though - he was told results would take 6-8 weeks.

Anyway, he was admitted for this biopsy and it was apparently awful and quite a traumatic affair and MIL had some question marks over his care. he was not let out the next day and was placed on oxygen. Probably after considerable pressure from FIL himself and MIL but completely agreed by consultant (delayed a bit by a physio) he came out after about two weeks.

But he was still very poorly and breathless. I don't know whole ins and outs but I think he may not have sought help as much as he should have done. No oximeter , for example.

About a week after leaving hospital he died in the night.

MIL was asked if she wanted a PM done and given the biopsy procedure and the trauma she said yes. Two weeks later and sill nothing conclusive. They said they could release body and took some samples. Meanwhile the biopsy came back and they said there was a huge tumour in the lung but emphatically this could have killed him in maybe a year or so but was not what did.

Funeral was last week.

MIL gets phone call today to tell her PM results may take 6 - 9 months. Putting aside the fact that she cannot move on or grieve properly whilst not knowing the cause of death, is this normal?? Inquests haven't been mentioned. I know of suicide inquests that have taken place a year after the event but I have never heard of a post mortem having such a huge delay.

Anyone got any ideas or experiences? Is this just NHS backlog or is there something more consequential going on?

We are going through the same thing at the moment.

Questions over his care, a lung sample was taken we were given a temporary death certificate to sort out his affairs, so no official cause of death yet.

Inquest pending, just waiting to hear whats going to happen.

We haven't been given any time frames though.

Oh well, solidarity!

I think MIL is a bit bewildered, confused. She is normally very accepting of things, a bit passive but she was certainly unhappy with his care in hospital and I think she may feel guilty thta she pushed to get him released. I think it very odd that they didn't seem to release him with advice about oxygen levels.

I suspect an inquest will occur but she hasn't mentioned it.

That does sound really odd they didnt give her that information.

My Dad was treated for pneumonia with oral anti biotics even though they have been repeatedly told he didn't have a stomach (removed due to cancer) the anti bitoics were supposed to be absorbed through the stomach wall He was sent hone with them too.

The pneumonia took hold and it killed him due to not being medicated properly.

Oh, that's so sad. I'm really sorry to hear that.

Sorry to infiltrate your thread but can I ask what hospital he was under for his leukaemia care?

It does seem a long time to wait. My brother's PM results took about six weeks to come through after his funeral and issue of a temporary death certificate. However that was in 2015.

I think Royal Gwent.

Thank you

We waited about 4 months for my mams post mortem results... I still haven't read the report and it's coming up to a year since she died.

I don't know the ins and outs from a medical side, just from going through it as a relative but a PM can take months depending on what they're testing/looking for. If they've ruled out things that can be quickly seen/found/tested they may have had to do tests that will take much longer to come back, such as bacteria that take a while to grow or wait to do tests that are expensive so need to be done in batches. It doesn't necessarily mean there's anything too unusual going on but it's a horrible wait to get information.

Have you been given the coroner's number? Any concerns or just wanting an update on what's going on with the PM they should be very helpful.

Thanks both. I will ask MIL if she has coroner's number. He did tell her 'not to write anything down' which was odd!!

It took 6 months for my husbands post mortem results to arrive. Apparently there are huge delays in testing facilities.

Late to this thread but going through a similar thing with my father. Took a month to release his body. Been told 4-5 months for Post Mortem report but inquest may be a year. His is a more complex case with police involvement but they told me from the start it would take a very long time. The Coroner has been very open and is happy to talk about the process.

It's extraordinary really. Such delayed closure. I did know inquests took a long time but not PMs themselves.

Sadly I went through this with my baby and also have some knowledge due to my work. There are many lab tests which can be ordered and some take months to get results back. Then the pathologist has to look at all the information and write their report. The coroner will then decide if an inquest is needed. It's torturously slow and traumatic but they have to follow procedure to ensure nothing is missed. I've never read my son's full post mortem, even during the inquest which followed.

It took 9 months for results we were waiting for. This was because once the evidence was all gathered by the medical examiner, the police statements all taken and given to the coroner, the coroner then need to write a report with his conclusion after reviewing all the files and evidence. It does take time. In the end it is good to have answers though and we got copies of all the files at request.

I'm sorry you went through all that. I understand why you haven't wanted to read the report.

I did read the report and, for anyone who is considering doing so, please do be aware that all the medical reports, etc, are extremely straight forward and graphic. Some people might not want to read this if it distresses them.

Our daughter in law died a year ago today. No post mortem was needed, the inquest was late September, at which point we got a proper death certificate. The only organisations who insisted on proper death certificate, were Student Loans and one of the pension companies but it was only a small amount of money.

Everyone else took the Statement of the fact of death. I emailed the registrar attaching the paperwork from the coroner and was given a number to use for Tell us once.

That's so sad georgina. Sorry to hear you have had a tough time.

My MIL is in the position of not knowing at all what her DH died of (other than death, obviously...) which leaves her in limbo.

So many sad stories on this thread. I hope you are all bearing up at this tricky time of year.

We just got our Autopsy results through. Proper cause of death has been given now, so it didn't take as long as first thought.
Looks like there will definitely be an inquest now though.

Post mortem reports do take many months. I would never suggest reading the report yourself as they are necessarily very graphic.

My experience was remarkably quick compared to others on this thread. I was told any unexpected death at home has to be investigated by the coroner. Someone from the coroner's office called me 5 days after the death was discovered to ask for more information and explain what would happen. The autopsy was booked for the following day and the day after that I received a call with the results and confirmation I could now call register the death and get a death certificate. Perhaps because there were no witnesses to interview at a hospital?