HC Deb 29 June 1992 vol 210 cc436-7W
Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the cost to relatives in each district health authority and NHS trust in England of removing a pacemaker from a deceased patient;

(2) if she will consider whether the surgical procedure of removing a pacemaker from a cadaver could be carried out by undertakers.

Mr. Sackville

Guidance on the removal of pacemakers from deceased persons is in health notice (83)6, a copy of which is in the Library; this makes it clear that funeral undertakers may carry out the removal and that the cost in all cases should be met by the national health service.