Bereavement Services
Bereavement Services will contact the Doctor who cared for your relative / friend and ensure the timely completion of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD).
The team can also advise you on what to do next, how and when to register the death and property collection.
Medical Examiner
Please visit Oxfordshire Medical Examiner Office
Referral to the Coroner
If the person who has died:
- was admitted due to a fall
- was admitted as a result of an unnatural event (i.e. a road traffic accident, assault etc.)
- underwent a procedure that required a general anaesthetic
there will need to be a referral to the Coroner, so there may be a slight delay in being offered an appointment with us, but please be assured we will keep in touch with you.
We will make every effort to keep these delays to a minimum, as we know this is an anxious and stressful time for all involved.
Contact us
Medical Examiner Office
For all deaths that occur in the community.
Tel: 01865 221939
John Radcliffe Hospital
Tel: 01865 220110
Churchill Hospital
Tel: 01865 225022
Horton General Hospital
Tel: 01295 229386
Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre
Please call our John Radcliffe Hospital number.
Post-mortems and retained organs
If you have experienced the death of a loved one in the past, and think a post-mortem examination was carried out in Oxford, and are worried that organs or tissue may have been retained, you are welcome to contact us.
Please call Gaynor Parsons, Bereavement Services Manager on the number below.
Tel: 01865 572688
Late miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death
A specialist bereavement midwife and a dedicated team provide care and support for women and their families following pregnancy loss from around 12 weeks onwards.
This includes babies who have sadly died shortly after birth.
If you have suffered a loss, we will usually care for you in a dedicated bereavement suite, where partners are also encouraged to stay.
Support with registration requirements, information relating to funerals and emotional support through the whole process is offered.
Bereavement information packs are also provided by Oxfordshire Stillbirth and Neonatal Death (Sands) in addition to hospital information leaflets.
Leaflets
Advice and support following the loss of your baby. What should I do now? (pdf)
If you would like to talk to someone for more information, please do contact us - details below.
Contact us
Paula Gallacher
Bereavement Specialist Midwife
John Radcliffe Hospital
Tel: 01865 227778
Paula Gallacher is the Bereavement Specialist Midwife at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
If you feel that you need further support after you have left the hospital, please contact Paula.
She works closely with bereaved families to offer practical and emotional support, and can direct families to 'Petals', the specialist counselling service available.
John Radcliffe Maternity Ashfield Fund
The Ashfield Fund, part of Oxford Hospitals Charity, is based at the John Radcliffe Hospital and helps to care for women and their families when they have lost a baby late in pregnancy or shortly after giving birth.
The Fund helps to support the bereavement suites, funds specialist counselling for families, and provides items which enable parents to spend a little more time with their baby and create lasting and tangible memories.
Petals
Petals is a charity that provides a free specialist counselling service for women and their partners following stillbirth, neonatal death, late miscarriage and termination of pregnancy following fetal abnormalities.
Please contact them to find out more:
- Tel: 0300 688 0068
- Email: counselling@petalscharity.org
Learning from Bereaved Families' experiences
The Maternity Bereavement Experience Measure (MBEM) questionnaire is now given to parents at their Consultant follow-up appointment.
Maternity Bereavement Experience Measure (MBEM) questionnaire (Word, 64 KB)
Letter from Bereavement Specialist Midwife (pdf, 167 KB)
If you do not receive a copy, please either download the questionnaire above, and post it back to us at:
Patient Experience Team (MBEM)
Stable Block, John Radcliffe Hospital
Headington OX3 9DU
or email it to paula.gallacher@ouh.nhs.uk
For more information about this, please read the document at the link below:
Learning from Bereaved Families' experiences (pdf, 197 KB)
Finding a Rainbow Project
A 'rainbow baby' is a baby born following the loss of another baby. A rainbow is something beautiful that follows a storm, and, while it doesn't deny the storm, it offers beauty and hope of brighter days to come.
Charity 'Kicks Count' has created helpful bundles for families, both parents and siblings, in organic cotton rainbow bags.
To claim a bundle for your family, contact Paula Gallacher for your unique reference code.
