Family's despair over gran's funeral 'limbo'
BBCThe family of a woman who died last month say she "has no dignity" while she lays in "limbo" at a funeral home due to delays in deaths being officially signed off.
Leanne Day, from Castletown in Sunderland, said it is "heartbreaking" knowing her grandmother Joyce Sinclair, who died on 16 April, had not yet been embalmed as her death certificate had still not been issued.
New rules mean all deaths must be reviewed by a coroner or medical examiner, but South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust (STSFT) says a shortage of staff has contributed to a backlog.
It apologised for delays that were "not acceptable" and said it was recruiting more medical examiners to "speed up matters".
Reforms to the certification system, which came into effect in September last year, expanded independent scrutiny from those in hospital to all deaths in England and Wales, "without exception".
The Department of Health said the new system, partly introduced following the murder of patients under GP Harold Shipman, improved safety and it was working to minimise delays locally.
It is understood wait times for deaths to be certified have increased from five to seven days following the new rules, but families on Wearside have told the BBC they have been waiting weeks.
Supplied"I feel useless... it's heartbreaking," Miss Day, whose grandmother died at a care home aged 96, told the BBC.
"To know she's done everything for us and that peace we need to give her, we can't.
"She's got no dignity at all. It's just awful."
Because the family have not yet received a death certificate, the funeral director is not allowed to start the preservation process.
Miss Day said: "We wake up on a morning and we're still no further forward. It's soul-destroying to know my nana is decomposing in a funeral parlour."
She said the delay also meant the family could not close any bank accounts down or start their insurance claim, adding to their anguish.
The medical examiner office was "absolutely not prepared" for the additional workload, she said, adding: "I'm confident that the big-wigs would not be happy if this was their families getting treated like this."
Elsewhere in Sunderland, Margaret Bramall said she could not cremate her daughter Lynsey Hutchinson for four weeks because of delays in obtaining a death certificate
It eventually arrived after 14 days.
Lynsey, 44, who had sons aged 15 and 21, died on 27 March following a diagnosis of early onset dementia several years before.
Her mother, who lives in Ryhope, said: "It was heart-wrenching and absolutely devastating. I just thought she can't be laid to rest."
Ms Bramall, who is widowed, previously waited 18 days for the funeral of her son, Keith, who died with Covid in 2020, but said that was "understandable".
But she said the delays over her daughter's funeral left her "crushed".
"It's so wrong for people who have lost someone to wait a month, it was so hard waiting thinking she's just lying there.
"I did go to see her body, but I didn't want anybody to see her because it wasn't her."
Father Marc Lyden-Smith, who runs churches in Houghton-le-Spring and Seaham, said it was not uncommon to see families wait up to six weeks to bury loved ones.
"A layer of bureaucracy has been added to safeguard loved ones but to the detrimental effect of families," he said.
"In some cases families aren't getting their access to say goodbye because the death hasn't been signed off.
"The delays have a huge effect on the grieving process and not enabling people to say goodbye."
The STSFT said it had supported a "review of systems and process" in the medical examiner office that had "improved matters", and a "significant amount of work" to prevent hold-ups was now under way.
Dr Shaz Wahid, its executive medical director, said the trust was aware of the "further upset and distress" being caused at an "already difficult time".
He said, while there had been an increase in workload, "unforeseen absence" had contributed to the delay, the trust was recruiting more medical examiners and had brought "more people" in working additional shifts.
"As a trust we are also supporting the Medical Examiner Office by providing family liaison staff to help keep families informed about their loved ones," Dr Wahid said.