At home or in a nursing home
If a person has passed away in their own home, or at a residential address, their doctor should be called before you contact us. Either their doctor or the on-call duty doctor if it is out of hours, will attend to confirm that the person has passed away.
Once the doctor has confirmed the passing, we may be contacted. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days per week to attend and bring the person who has passed into our care.
The doctor’s surgery will advise when the death certificate can be collected by the next-of-kin, then the passing can be officially registered.
In a hospital
If a person passes away at a hospital, there is no need to contact us immediately. The relevant doctor will issue the death certificate to the next-of-kin and will advise on how this is to be collected.
It is likely that the person who has passed will remain at the premises until the necessary paperwork has been completed.
It is advisable that you contact us the next day and explain that our services will be required. Once all necessary paperwork has been completed, the hospital will contact the next-of-kin in order to arrange the collection of the death certificate.
Once the death certificate has been collected by the next-of-kin, an appointment must be made with the Registrar. The Registrar will issue the next-of-kin with a green certificate for burial or cremation.
You then need to present us, in person, with the green certificate and we will then arrange to collect the person who has passed from the hospital and take them into our care.
Please note, usually, we can only collect the person who has passed if we are presented with a green certificate for burial or cremation.
An unexpected death
If a loved one has experienced an unexpected death, it is advisable that you contact the police immediately, who will handle proceedings and advise on the next steps.
If the ambulance has already attended then they would normally call the Police for you. The Police report to the Coroner’s office who will then speak to the family once they have established the circumstances. In some instances, the doctor may need to refer the death to the coroner’s office.