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A death, whether expected or not, is highly traumatic for everyone involved and many people are unsure what to do afterwards, this page should help following a bereavement.
What to do when someone dies at home?
Should a person die at home and the death was expected, you should call the deceased’s family doctor. If the person dies in the evening, at night, at the weekend or on a Bank Holiday, call the GP practice and you’ll be given a number to phone for an out of hours doctor or telephone 111. When someone dies, a trained healthcare professional needs to verify the death to confirm that the person has died. This must be done before we can arrange the transfer of your loved one into our care. When death occurs at home, the district nurse will usually verify the death. You should dial 999 if someone dies unexpectedly.
Once the death has been verified, you should tell any of the deceased’s relatives as they may want to see them before they are transferred to our private Chapel of Rest. When you feel the time is right you can now contact us. We can often be with you within an hour of your initial call, we will arrive with our professionally adapted and equipped private ambulance. We are here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to support you, phone us on 01299 403105 for our assistance.
What to do when someone dies in a nursing/care home?
The nursing staff at the care home will inform the deceased’s doctors surgery who will attend the nursing home to verify the death. The care home will also contact the next of kin or the closest family members immediately following someone passing away. If we have already been nominated as the funeral director, we will also be contacted. If we have not yet been appointed as your funeral director you will need to instruct the care come to contact us. We will liaise with the care home once the death has been verified to transfer your loved one into our care, we will arrive with our professionally adapted and equipped private ambulance. We will then contact the next of kin the following day to introduce ourselves if required and explain the next steps to them.
What to do when someone dies in a hospital?
If someone passes away at hospital and the family are not in attendance, the hospital will contact the next of kin or closest family members immediately. Many hospitals have bereavement services and offices, which provide information and guidance and are there to help support families with the administrative processes required after someone dies in hospital. Relatives and Next of Kin (NOK) should contact the Bereavement Office after a death to discuss what will happen next. The Bereavement Officers will keep you informed of any delays due to the death having to be referred to the Coroner or if the doctor who cared for the patient is not available to complete the medical certificate. When you feel that the time is right, contact us and we will work with the hospital to ensure the necessary paperwork is completed.
You must register the death first before we can collect your loved one from a hospital mortuary. Once we have received the required paperwork, we will arrange the collection of your loved one with our professionally adapted and equipped private ambulance.
To learn more about registering the death, visit our Registering the Death page
Smaller community hospitals such as Kidderminster, Bromsgrove, Tenbury Wells, Malvern, Evesham and Pershore do not have hospital mortuaries, in instances where a loved one passes away in these hospitals the steps of what happens when someone dies in a nursing/care home are followed. We will collect the deceased person with our professionally adapted and equipped private ambulance straight from the ward where they have passed away within a couple hours of death.
Worcestershire Royal Hospital Bereavement Office | Tel: 01905 760762 |
Alexandra Hospital Redditch Bereavement Office | Tel: 01527 512083 |
Russells Hall Hospital Dudley Bereavement Office | Tel: 01384 244198 |
Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Bereavement Office | Tel: 0121 3712450 |
Princess Royal Hospital Telford Bereavement Office | Tel: 01952 641222 |
Royal Shrewsbury Hospital Bereavement Office | Tel: 01743 261384 |
What to do when someone dies away from Home?
B Ince Funeral Directors can assist you when someone dies away from home in the UK as well as abroad.
When a loved one passes away from home, we appreciate this may cause you additional concerns. Please be reassured that we are called upon to deal with such circumstances quite regularly. We can personally repatriate a loved one from anywhere in the UK and help make the arrangements for the repatriation of a loved one who has died abroad.
