A Sudden Death

A sudden death
When a sudden or unexpected death occurs the Police have to be informed immediately. Police Officers working on behalf of Her Majesty’s Coroners Office will attend the scene. After taking details from persons on site (family members, next of kin or neighbour) the Police will instruct a local Funeral Director to remove the deceased to the local hospital.

The Funeral Director attending will be part of a Coroner’s Call Out Rota and they are simply working on behalf of the Coroner. You decide who is going to arrange the funeral, it doesn’t have to be the Funeral Director removing the deceased. Some time after the deceased has been removed to the local hospital a Coroner’s Officer will liaise with the family to guide them through the process of what procedures take place.

Please note
The Funeral Director will be unable to arrange a day and time of the funeral until the Coroner releases the deceased from the hospital and also issues the necessary funeral paperwork. There are no definite time scales for how long this process takes and a Coroners Post Mortem may be performed the day or several days after death. The circumstances of who and when the Police are contacted does vary somewhat.

• Paramedics may already be in attendance but may contact the Police if they feel the death is sudden or suspicious
• A Doctor if present may feel he/she is not in a position to issue a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death and will refer he death to the coroner via the local Police
•  If you yourself discover the deceased then you must contact the Police immediately

Please view related pages below: