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Ask Us For Advice
Even though a death may be expected, nothing prepares you for the emotional shock of losing a loved one.
The first thing to remember is that we are here to help, if at any time you are unsure what to do, or if you feel your circumstances differ from the below, please contact us. You do not need to have registered the death to ask us for advice or start discussing funeral arrangements.
Please note that if the deceased suffered from an industrial disease, the death will always be referred to the coroner by the GP. See our Sudden Death page.
Most hospitals have their own Mortuary, and so immediate removal of the deceased is not required, if this is not the case, the hospital will inform us of the death and we will make arrangements to move the deceased to our Chapel of Rest.
All hospitals have a Bereavement Services team, you should speak to them to determine when the Cause of Death Certificate will be ready to collect. Once you know when this can be collected, you can contact your local registrar to arrange an appointment to register the death. You will need to take the Cause of Death Certificate to the Registrar.
Some hospitals have an in house registrar, in which case the Bereavement Services team can book an appointment for you and give the certificate directly to the registrar.
You can contact us whenever you are ready.
Most hospices have their own Mortuary, and so immediate removal of the deceased is not required, if this is not the case, the hospice will inform us of the death and we will make arrangements to move the deceased to our Chapel of Rest.
The hospice will let you know when the Cause of Death Certificate will be ready to collect, this may be from them or the local GP’s office depending upon their arrangements. Once you know when this can be collected, you can contact your local registrar to arrange an appointment to register the death. You will need to take the Cause of Death Certificate to the Registrar.
You can contact us whenever you are ready.
The home will contact us to make arrangements for the deceased to be moved to our Chapel of Rest.
The home will also inform the GP of the deceased that they have passed away, who will produce the Cause of Death Certificate. You should make contact with the GP surgery directly to find out when the Cause of Death Certificate will be ready to collect. Once you know when this can be collected, you can contact your local registrar to arrange an appointment to register the death. You will need to take the Cause of Death Certificate to the Registrar.
You can contact us whenever you are ready.
If it is during surgery hours you can contact the deceased’s regular GP, in most cases the GP will attend to certify the death at the earliest opportunity. If you are comfortable doing so, the GP may ask you to perform certain tasks to confirm that death has occurred, if they are satisfied that the person has died, it is not essential they attend, although most still will.
If it is out of surgery hours, you can contact the out-of-hours doctors, who will do the same as a GP, though they may not attend in person.
If the deceased is under the care of district nurses, they are able to confirm that the death has occurred.
Once the above has happened, please contact us to make arrangements for us to move the deceased to our Chapel of Rest.
At Bath & Wells we want to provide you with a professional and respectful funeral service at an affordable cost.