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.
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Doctor hasn't sent medical cause of death certificate yet!
alwayswantchocolate · 26/03/2024 15:30
olympicsrock · 26/03/2024 15:39
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.
TraitorsGate · 26/03/2024 15:48
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..
Mymellowbird · 27/03/2024 10:50
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.
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