§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what financial arrangements exist between NHS trusts and coroners for provision of mortuary services; [59430]
(2) which NHS mortuaries levy charges for their services; [59427]
(3) if he will list those NHS trusts which operate public mortuaries; [59425]
(4) what the level of investment is for NHS mortuaries; [59428]
(5) when the responsibility of NHS hospital trusts to provide accommodation for people who die in hospital will end and that of the coroner or undertaker begin; [59431]
(6) what his policy is on NHS mortuaries levying charges to the public. [59426]
§ Mr. HuttonWhen a patient dies in a National Health Service (NHS) hospital, the hospital is responsible for the care of the body until that responsibility can be transferred, either to the executors or administrators or other persons with the duty of disposing of the body, or to the coroner. The NHS does not charge the public for this care.
We do not hold separate information on the level of investment in NHS mortuaries, which are funded through the general allocation to the NHS. Public mortuaries are run and financed by local authorities. Such mortuaries, therefore, are not operated by the NHS.
The Coroner Service is funded through local authorities. Local authorities pay NHS trusts for the use of mortuaries to store bodies until coronial enquiries are complete, although in some cases local coroners manage these financial arrangements directly.