Eight ‘reportable incidents’ take place at Sheffield mortuaries in six years

Eight ‘reportable incidents’ have taken place at mortuaries in Sheffield over the last six years, new figures have revealed.
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A Freedom of Information request put in by JPI Media - The Star’s parent company - show eight errors were made at two mortuaries in Sheffield over the last six years.

These include one incident where the wrong body was released to a funeral director and three occasions on which a body was accidentally damaged.

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Other mistakes included post-mortem procedures being carried out without consent and the discovery of organs or tissue at the mortuary after a body had been released back to a family.

The Medico-Legal Centre in Sheffield cares for around 1,000 people a year.The Medico-Legal Centre in Sheffield cares for around 1,000 people a year.
The Medico-Legal Centre in Sheffield cares for around 1,000 people a year.

Four incidents happened at each of Sheffield’s two mortuaries, the Medico-Legal Centre on Watery Street and the mortuary at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

The Human Tissue Authority said the number of reportable incidents represented a ‘very small proportion’ of the 315,500 deceased people who entered the care of these mortuaries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland each year.

However, Andy Langford, clinical director for the charity Cruse Bereavement Care, said any errors made could be ‘very traumatising’ for families.

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He said: “If you were standing in a room expecting to view the body of a loved one and you are presented with a person who is recognisably different, you can imagine how that would feel. It is beyond shocking, really.

Mistakes range from a body being damaged to the wrong body being released to a funeral director.Mistakes range from a body being damaged to the wrong body being released to a funeral director.
Mistakes range from a body being damaged to the wrong body being released to a funeral director.

“I have certainly talked to someone who said they didn’t have words to describe it.”

Both Sheffield Council - who operate the Medico-Legal Centre - and Sheffield Children’s Hospital said all incidents are fully investigated and learned from.

Lisa Firth, head of parks and countryside at Sheffield Council, said: “We work very hard to make sure that incidents don’t occur when we are caring for deceased people. We follow strict procedures to make sure that we treat each person with dignity.

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“We know that unfortunately incidents do sometimes happen and we work sensitively with the family at the time where this is the case. It’s our legal duty to report every incident, however small, and in the last six years there have been four. Each one is investigated and reviewed and we learn from this by updating our procedures.”

Eight mistakes took place at mortuaries in Sheffield over the last six years.Eight mistakes took place at mortuaries in Sheffield over the last six years.
Eight mistakes took place at mortuaries in Sheffield over the last six years.

And Jeff Perring, medical director at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, said: “We work very hard to make sure mistakes don’t happen at any point during our care of children, young people and their families.

“Our aim across the trust is to ensure our patients are safely treated and supported. We recognise that unfortunately mistakes do occur on occasions as has happened in the mortuary on four occasions between 2014 – 2018.

“We investigate all incidents to ensure we have understood what has happened and what we can learn from them. In addition to local investigations we have a weekly review of all incidents in the trust and learning is shared across the organisation. We also work closely with families to explain what has happened in the incident to minimise any distress caused to them.”

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Anyone affected by bereavement can call the Cruse Bereavement Care National Helpline for free on 0808 808 1677​.

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