On whose authority (2)

Back on 1 Feb 2010 I wrote a post which began: It’s an interesting fact that a funeral director can go to a hospital mortuary and collect a dead person to bring back to their funeral home on the verbal instruction of that dead person’s executor. It attracted a lively discussion. You can read it all here.

I have just had an email which sets things out according to the understanding of someone who works in a mortuary. I am very grateful to this person for taking so much time to do this for us. It is so cogent I decided at once to post it. The writer of what follows did not see the comments on the original post because when this blog was transmigrated from Blogger the comments did not come with it. I have just copied and pasted the comments from Blogger.  Here goes:

I came across your page while doing a work-related search.  In the first article on page https://www.goodfuneralguide.co.uk/category/funeral-directors/page/4/ there are a number of incorrect facts.  I’m aware this page is a year old, but as it is still appearing in search results, I thought it might be helpful if I highlighted them for you.

First, it is not true now, nor was it when you posted that blog entry that a funeral director can turn up at any mortuary to collect a deceased body without written authorisation.  There have, in the past, been a few exceptions to this, and on the request of some families there may still be exceptions, but the vast majority of NHS hospitals and public mortuaries will require sight of a copy of the registrar’s “green” certificate (which has to be provided to the FD by the person who has registered the death), or a copy of the CR6 (issued by the coroner to the FD as instructed by the NOK), and in addition most require a release form or (as they’ve now been renamed) a Transfer of Care form, signed by the person making the funeral arrangements (normally the executor or NOK.  Any mortuary which does not ask for such forms is working outside the code of practice issued by the AAPT(uk) – the professional body for mortuary workers.

Your other contributor on that page refers to a “NHS Mortician”.  Mortician is an American term which usually refers to a funeral director, and most mortuary workers see this as a derogatory term.  People working in the NHS mortuaries are generally known as Anatomical Pathology Technologists, Mortuary Technicians, Mortuary Porters, Pathology Technicians or other derivative of these terms, depending on their trust’s policy.  Reputable mortuary workers will be known as APTs, and will be registered with the AAPT to ensure good practice and common standards of conduct.  The AAPT are normally very willing to answer questions of professional conduct when contacted.

In the case of your contributors comment, which is unfortunate to say the least, there is a problem for us all which is not highlighted.

The clothing which was removed with the deceased in a plastic bag, and was retained with the deceased for burial would – if it had been removed from the deceased – be classed as clinical waste.  Any sheet, shroud, clothing, or property which is soiled from having been in contact with the body is classed as such, and is therefore subject to certain restrictions.  Any such waste we dispose of from our premises, has to be collected by a licensed contractor and disposed of appropriately.  We are not licensed, and therefore not permitted to move clinical waste, even between our own branches!  In the case of soiled clothing, there is a grey area.  On the one hand, it is always preferable to return property to the deceased’s family.  On the other, removing it from the deceased makes it clinical waste, and we may be committing an offence simply by allowing that family to transport those possessions home.  In doing so may inadvertently cause a health hazard to them and others, which nobody would want.

Hospitals will normally discus the property they hold with the deceased when the executor/NOK comes to obtain the medical certificate, and most FDs (well the good ones anyway) will ask when the funeral arrangements are made.  Where clothing is concerned, if we get any from the mortuary, we ask the family what they want done with it, and we advise them of its condition so that they can make an informed decision. Other FDs may take the view that it is safer and better practice simply to dispose of the clothing to avoid the potential problems and possible distress caused to family.

News blossom

Here’s a wee roundup of the week’s stories in tweets. All good stuff.

 

Hannah Rumble and Douglas Davies on burial rites and natural burial. Podcasts – http://bit.ly/e6Lflt

 

Funeral Party (it’s a noisy band – not my thing, maybe your thing) –http://nyp.st/fl1D1z

 

The utter ignorance of funeral consumers almost matched here by a very stupid journo. Jumping gibberish! – http://bit.ly/ih5vkl

 

Another swimming pool to be heated by blazing corpses – as the nonsensemongers would have it : http://bit.ly/gDwNmN

 

We have a new hero and her name is Sharon Voice –http://bit.ly/easkMd

 

Illicit open-air cremation? An intriguing photo – http://flic.kr/p/9tMowS

 

All the year round at Sun Rising nbg – one of my favourites –http://bit.ly/hGdjv0

 

Nice climate, great demographic. Meet the ex-pats’ undertaker, an opp that’s been begging for ages – http://bit.ly/e5GE4c

 

Extremes of scurrility here, clearly written by an industry insider, and the more interesting for that – http://bit.ly/gdzKN4

 

funeral_ideas Sentiment – Louise RT by GoodFunerals

http://bit.ly/dXYoOi 17 year olds murdered body taken to football match

 

Red faces at the Co-op as it fesses up to leaking 83,000 customer details. Third party blamed – http://bit.ly/iezuCh

 

Yet another cemetery stripped of grieving bling. Crass! –http://bit.ly/gyVqpc

 

Quality of life, value of life and when do I let my baby die? Thoughtful and rigorous piece here – http://bit.ly/e2sw9t

 

Co-op the first in the country to launch a ‘nationally recognised qualification’ – an NVQ. Gnn!?? What price a Dip FD?http://bit.ly/eoNlYN

 

Co-op employee, 11 yrs loyal service, sacked for drinking the wrong sort of tea – http://bit.ly/fTcU6a

 

Odd politics: the Damned Co-op wants to buy Bretby crem in the teeth of Lab opposition. Workers unite! – http://bit.ly/eZjKa4

 

Behind the scenes in a US funeral home – photo essay :http://nyti.ms/grRLZE

 

morbidanatomy Joanna RT by GoodFunerals

I love this so much: The Lennon Sisters singing Dry Bones, The Lawrence Welk Show, 1965 http://bit.ly/dDYmZp

 

No gas at the crem so Zimbabwe man burns father on a pyre –http://n.pr/hJKVxA

 

Nice account here of a West Indian funeral – http://bit.ly/dXdO3m

 

Skull earrings. V droll – http://bit.ly/h4CbaL

 

Should this woman have let her children visit their dying granddad?http://bit.ly/dYfvFn

 

Don’t eat and grieve – it ain’t dignified : http://bit.ly/gPZYnb

 

Ray Biddiss’ trike hearse in action – http://bit.ly/eOT0g2

 

China to regulate funeral industry and help poor families. Catch-up time for the UK? http://bit.ly/hpOWLb

 

Very good home funeral piece here. Reinvented in the UK and now deplorably moribund. Why? – http://bit.ly/gZBJl0

 

Police douse corpse in mid-cremation and bang up wife and son –http://bit.ly/gO2x6g

 

World’s weirdest funeral procession? The Burial of the Sardine. Fab! – http://bit.ly/eE1Ccg

 

Beltane fires and funeral pyres. Confusing. http://bit.ly/eXKBJT

 

‘There is an argument that we should be more familiar with the topic of our ultimate demise.’ Nice one, Mariella – http://bit.ly/eldgEl

 

davidschneider David Schneider RT by GoodFunerals

Some terrible, terrible part of me keeps wondering whether Eddie Stobart’s coffin will be green with his name down the side.

 

Its_Death Steve Death RT by GoodFunerals

How sad. The inventor of superglue has died *Sniff*

 

RT @TheFamilyPlot: Witness to a Native American funeral – a report on the graveside ritual for Tu Moonwalkerhttp://wp.me/pBD55-Do

 

Smart new survey from Funeralcare. No news in it but news enough for lazy journos who do stories from press releases –http://bit.ly/hipqlR

Review: Your Digital Afterlife

You wait and wait for a great book to come along. Unlike buses, great books don’t come along four at once. They are as single as they are singular. Today’s great book is Your Digital Afterlife.

There have been sporadic lightweight journalistic treatments of the growing importance of making provision for our virtual assets. I last had a look at some as far back, I am now ashamed to say, as November 2009. But, I have just learned, I belong to the nether end of the Boomer generation (46-64 yrs), and we Boomers are far from internet-savvy. Compared with the Millennial Generation (18-29 yrs), 80% of whom texted in the last 24 hrs and 20% of whom have posted videos of themselves online, just 35% of my crew texted in the last 24 hrs and but 2% of us have uploaded videos. Yikes the world is moving from physical to virtual very fast indeed.

Where all assets were once physical, except for lingering memories, now they are increasingly digital. The most obvious examples are letters, documents, music and photos. There’s more.

“Will future generations have less attachment to physical objects?” What an interesting idea. Physical objects are unique, but “one of the unique features of digital things is that two exact copies can exist or one copy can be accessed in multiple places at one time.” Had we only physical assets, they’d be divvied up, some thrown away, and our identity fragmented. Digital assets can be bequeathed complete – to more than just one person.

The law presently regards assets only as physical assets. How do we make sure these endure?

Your Digital Afterlife wants to persuade us of the necessity so, first, it makes the case. Our digital assets are identity-defining: “All this content forms a rich collection that reflects who you are and what you think.” Much of this content may be interactive – comments on your Facebook status “reflecting on your identity”; your comments on others. Future generations will be able to see us as we saw ourselves and as others saw us.

So rich is this content that there’s now “a huge opportunity that’s never been available to ordinary people – a permanent archive of your life that could exist beyond your physical life.” So great is the amount of our content that the authors call on us to curate it. With photos, for example, don’t just leave 10,000 – no one will know where to start. Whittle them down, grade them and tag them.

This is all so new that “as a society we have not thought through the ramifications or considered what will happen to this digital content.”

What’s more, a great deal of this digital content does not reside in our devices (computer, phone, etc), it is stored by businesses which can deny others access – or go bust. What’s more, most of these companies’ terms of service do not make provision for our content on our death. They never thought of it. Here is a matter which needs urgently to be addressed: “Ideally services that host digital content would have an industry-standard or legally enforced way to deal with the death of their members.” It will happen.

In the meantime, we need to appoint a digital executor with the technical nous to enable them to gather up and pass on our digital legacy – having, perhaps, got rid of specified content we’d rather others knew nothing of.

To enable our digital executor to do his or her work, we need to make an inventory of our devices and accounts – on a spreadsheet we can download from the YourDigitalAfterlife website. Meticulous instructions are given.

The book concludes with a speculative look into the future. Is it possible, they wonder, if, one day, artificial intelligence will become so sophisticated that it will be possible to process our store of digital content and create a humanoid robot in our own image?

Your Digital Afterlife is beautifully written – clear, jargon-free, accessible. Its tone is just right, too, companionable, not jokey and joshing nor loftily authoritative. It is both philosophical and practical. It has opened up a new and important field to me.

I have given you but a taster. I urge you to buy it.

And don’t hold your breath for the next book review on this blog.

The Good Funeral Guide
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