Doctor hasn't sent medical cause of death certificate yet!

[alwayswantchocolate]

My mother in law passed away last Friday and was seen by two doctors as per the process but the cause of death certificate hasn't been done.

We've been told we can't book an appointment with the registrar until the doctors cause of death form is sent over, processed by the registrars office 'alongside their other workload' and they send us a link to book an appointment for goodness knows when. They won't book us in for next week ready, they say we can't do it

The doctor who is supposed to be doing the certificate isn't working until tomorrow, and in fact we've never heard of them. And it's a different story to the one we got told this morning.

Might sound like I am stressing over nothing, but we are going on holiday next Friday, and with the Friday/Monday bank holiday coming up that means we have 6 working days left to get everything sorted. We can't finalise multiple things without the death certificate. Pretty sure we can't just go away and not register the death either? Then there's the funeral arrangements.

My husband is an only child, from a tiny family, his dad is deceased. There isn't really anyone else to register it. There's a cousin who won't be able to do it as he's pretty much housebound.

As for the holiday - my goodness do we need it. The past 2 years have been hell on earth. My mother in law was sectioned under the mental health act after causing a huge amount of anguish for us, was detained in a psychiatric hospital and then was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and all the awfulness that involves. We are mentally on our knees.

Can a doctor really take 5 days to get around to sending the form across?! How long does it typically taken then to get into the registrars? They wouldn't give us a timescale. Who else can register a death? I've tried googling it but the answers are so vague to be totally unhelpful.

So if the death was Friday the earliest the doctor would have been contacted regarding the certificate was Monday. And we are now Tuesday… 1 day in.
I think you need to be more patient however stressful this is.

I’m sure they will do it tomorrow for you

OH's only came through yesterday and he died last Thursday afternoon. I'd expect for you hear maybe today or tomorrow if everything was straight forward.

My dads took 10 days but he was found at home and it was an unexplained death so it didn't come through until after all of the investigations.

Sorry for your loss, where did she die, hospital, carehome, at home? Have you received the certificate if death yet, the cause we had to wait over a week for and it came from the coroners office not the doctor, that was for a carehome..

I'm sorry for the loss of your mother in law and the stressful time you have had.

The process for MCCDs (Medical Certificate of Cause of Death) is changing this week. All deaths have to be reported via a Medical Examiner and this may or may not be the cause of delay.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-death-certification-process/an-overview-of-the-death-certification-reforms#:~:text=From%20April%202024%2C%20a%20new,a%20local%20level%20and%20nationally

Thanks for your reply. The doctor attended (the death was in a care home) and was the second of the two doctors to certify the death and they were then the one that had to do the certificate. I suppose I'm confused why they were there, and yet didn't send the certificate to the registrar in a timely manner, knowing they wouldn't be working again until the following Wednesday?! Seems odd to me.

She died in a care home. it's the certificate for cause of death that hasn't been done. The cause was known, she was actively dying of pancreatic cancer.

It’s not even been 2 full working days. My Mum death was expected and in hospital, she died on the Saturday and it took until the Thursday for them to complete the paperwork.

I think you may need to adjust your expectations.

The carehome manager may be able to register her death if you're away and you can start making funeral plan enquiries.

@alwayswantchocolate

When my Dad died last year I was able to book the registrars appointment but it did say if they had not had the certificate from the hospital Dr 24hours before they would have to cancel the appointment, it came through about a day later and I was able to keep the appointment.

I think you have to register a death or at least have booked the registrar appointment within 7 days - you would have to check this though in case there are extenuating circumstances that delay this or the rules have changed.

If you look on the Gov website for what you need to do when someone dies it gives a checklist of the order to do things.

It is a very stressful time, hopefully you can go on your holiday.

All deaths not in hospital have to be reviewed by a Medical Examiner. this is probably what is taking its time.

Ok so because Harold shipman killed his patients and then signed their death certificates and cremation forms. Every death in the community or the hospital needs to be verified by the medical examiner, who will talk to the drs regarding cause of death, then the medical examiner will review the patient's medical records and come to an agreement Re cause of death. This usually takes about 4 working days, and then the dr who certified death with do the medical certificate and the cremation form if she is having a cremation and then it will all be sent to the registras office and then you will be able to make an appointment

This is pretty standard. My MIL died on March 3rd, took 8 days to get death certificate.

I don't know if this is helpful or not but hope it is. When my Mother in law died (in care home) early last year we had to wait for Dr to issue the paperwork. Honestly it was a week or 2 before it was done and the registrar in the council couldn't issue the death certificate.

I had always thought that nothing could be done until death was registered and death certificate was issued but was told no longer the case. We informed the registrar and filled in the relevant info but until the medical info came through we had to wait. Mil was buried well before the certificate was ever received. We had to wait for it to start process with banks and will and things but funeral was no problem. Might be worth checking with registrar or funeral director?
We're in Northern Ireland, funerals usually happen reasonably quickly

Can you appoint a funeral director now, OP? In my experience they are very helpful ( and experienced, obviously) and will be able to handle contact with the medical authorities for you if authorised. When a relative died more than six hours journey away, the FD liaised with the Coroner ( unexpected death) for us and basically handled everything.

From the Government website:

If a relative cannot register the death, you can do it if you:

• were there at the time of death
• are an administrator from the hospital (if the person died in hospital)
• are in charge of making funeral arrangements

Often, and with all respect, Doctor's can't send anything they do not hold or have...
If someone is taken to hospital and then passes, it will generally be a case for a post mortem... This takes time to confirm the cause of death! In any event whatsoever, if a death is suspicious then a consultant will order a PM. It is never a condition where a Doctor confirms the CAUSE of death, yes he can declare a person's is dead but he/she cannot confirm the cause s of such! This is done by a team of Pathologists... The body can remain in refrigeration until the pathologist is certain of cause of death! Once it's been confirmed the last process belongs to the Coroner... His words are final... He cannot be influenced by anyone or anything!
I do hope this goes someway to help you understand and I also greatly express my sincere condolences...
DG.

Full sympathy to you and your family. Speed of arrangements varies hugely across the country. Buckle up for ... a snail's pace.

I am still working through the admin of my husband's death on 20 February. Although he died in a hospice of kidney failure due to multiple myeloma (cancer), the nurses thought the coroner might need to be involved because he had a fall at the hospice (all down to them). In the end, his medical cert. was speedily approved by 22 Feb but the county registrar did not have any appointments to register the death and issue certificates until 4 March. Then, the funeral home didn't have any slots for cremation so I couldn't collect his casket until 21 March.
His funeral will be 2 April. I am still in the process of applying for probate but from other threads on this site, after I have finally sent up all the info, it could be another 16 weeks + before probate is granted!!

@Mymellowbird I'm a uk doctor, I'm not sure where you are but post mortems are quite rarely requested where I work. Most deaths are expected or there's enough clinical information to give a cause of death.

I’m a Senior Coroner’s Officer and all of the above is complete nonsense. Only coroners or the police can authorise post mortems, the latter being Forensic if criminality is suspected. Consultants have nothing to do with it.

Hospital deaths do not automatically result in post mortems, plenty of people die in hospital and their deaths are certified by a doctor on the balance of probabilities, ie more likely than not. The only time a post mortem is needed is if the cause of death is unknown or the deceased is thought to have died from unnatural causes. Doctors all over the country every day give causes of death for people. They can both verify the person has died and then certify the cause. They must have seen the patient within 28 days of death, have treated them for illness that they’ve died from and if not - the death must be referred to the coroner.