§ Mr. SnapeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether the practice of charging bereaved relatives of patients who have died a fee for the removal, by a doctor at the hospital, of a heart pacemaker prior to cremation is customary throughout the United Kingdom;
(2) what provision exists under the national health service for the removal of pacemakers from the bodies of patients who have died while in hospital;
(3) under what authority doctors at Sandwell general hospital, West Bromwich, charge bereaved relatives a fixed fee for the removal of pacemakers from the bodies of patients who have died at the hospital.
§ Mr. Dorrell[holding answer 18 June 1991]: Central guidance on the removal of pacemakers from people who have died in hospital was issued in 1983 through Health Notice (83)6, a copy of which is available in the Library. The intention is that the health authority should meet the cost and that in no circumstances should bereaved relatives be charged. I understand that Sandwell health authority has reimbursed the relatives who were charged, and has apologised to them for the unnecessary distress caused by its action.