Grieving families face a ‘significant risk’ of burying someone else’s relative because NHS mortuaries are careless, claims a damning report that also reveals bodies are kept in dirty fridges and examined using rusty saws
- Only 5.2 per cent of NHS mortuaries inspected last year did not fail on something
- Eight ‘critical’ failings were found, which put human safety or dignity at risk
- Previous research showed the wrong body is released several times a year
Grieving families in England and Wales are at ‘significant risk’ of burying someone else’s relative because NHS mortuaries are so careless, a damning report says.
Dead bodies are stored in dirty fridges, damaged when they are moved and examined with rusty saws on broken post-mortem tables.
Just 5.2 per cent of mortuaries passed an inspection without failing something in 2017-18, the report shows, a huge drop from 43.2 per cent in 2013-14.
Some 58.6 per cent of inspections revealed serious failings in mortuaries, compared to 11.4 per cent in 2014.
And figures released last year showed mortuaries release the wrong body several times a year, something that happened at least 25 times between 2002 and 2013.
Experts say inspections have become more rigorous, which could account for some of the rise in failures, but that short-staffing and lack of money to repair facilities and equipment is a real problem.
NHS mortuaries a
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The investigation by the Health Service Journal revealed the number of major failings at health service mortuaries has risen by more than 20 times in a single year – from seven to 151.
One mortuary at Torbay Hospital in Devon had ‘extensive rusting’ on storage for post-mortem equipment, and bodily fluids pooled on the post-mortem exam table because the drainage system was broken.
Some 510 overall shortfalls were found in Human Tissue Authority Inspections of 58 mortuaries in 2017-18, while only 59 were recorded in 2017-18.
Eight ‘critical’ failings put human dignity at risk
And eight of these were considered critical failings which pose a significant risk to human safety or dignity.
There were no critical failings recorded at all during the previous four years.
Nicolette Harrison from the Human Tissue Authority told the Health Service Journal: ‘We expect all establishments to meet our standards, to ensure public confidence that mortuaries are handling bodies with appropriate dignity and care.’
Last year more than 300,000 bodies were sent to mortuaries in England and Wales and there were about 90,000 post-mortem exams.
Bodies stored in a dirty fridge at freezing temperatures
The HSJ’s report revealed that at Alexandra Hospital in Worcestershire bodies were stored in a dirty fridge which was so cold bodies were at risk of freezing solid, The Telegraph reports.
A separate report in November revealed the wrong bodies were released to funeral directors at least 25 times between 2002 and 2013, according to The Sun.
And nine of those were buried or cremated before anybody realised the mistake had been made.
Meanwhile post-mortems were performed on the wrong body 13 times, seven were disfigured because they were dropped or damaged in a mortuary, and 15 decomposed because they were not kept cold enough.
Hard to improve equipment because it is expensive
Dr Michael Osborne, of the Royal College of Pathologists, said it is harder to improve facilities than to train staff because it costs more money.
‘Some things are more addressable than others,’ he said.
‘Governance and quality are things people can deal with. You can send staff on courses, and you can educate them to improve governance and quality.
‘It is much harder to improve premises, facilities, and equipment because that often has a much larger capital overlay.’
WOMAN FOUND ALIVE IN MORTUARY FRIDGE AFTER CRASH
A woman was found alive in a mortuary fridge in South Africa after being in a car crash and showing ‘no form of life’ at the scene of the incident.
The unnamed woman was taken to the morgue in gold-mining town Carletonville, in the Gauteng province near Johannesburg.
She had been declared dead after the car smash, TimesLive reported in July, but when a member of mortuary staff checked on the body he found she was breathing.
She was taken to hospital where she is now recovering from her ordeal, according to local reports.
The ambulance company whose paramedics declared her dead have denied there is any proof of negligence.
‘This did not happen because our paramedics are not properly trained,’ said the operations manager of the firm, Distress Alert.
He said that staff had followed protocols when checking for life‚ which included looking for signs of a pulse and whether she was breathing.
Local reports say the woman was among a number of people caught up in a car crash on June 24 which left two others dead.
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