Bereavement Services and Medical Examiner Office
Bereavement Services and the Oxfordshire Medical Examiner Office are here to support you when a loved one has died.
Both services are open Monday to Friday 9.00am to 4.00pm (except Bank Holidays).
Contact us
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 Office
The Medical Examiner's purpose is to:
- provide greater safeguards for the public by ensuring independent scrutiny of all non-coronial deaths
- ensure the appropriate direction of deaths to the coroner
- provide a better service for the bereaved and an opportunity for them to raise any concerns to a doctor not involved in the care of the deceased
- improve the quality and accuracy of death certification
- improve the quality of mortality data.
Oxfordshire's Medical Examiner Office is hosted by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and based at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
The office is staffed by medical examiners and supported by medical examiner officers.
The role of the Medical Examiner Office is to examine deaths and to:
- agree the proposed cause of death and the overall accuracy of the medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD) with the doctor completing it
- discuss the cause of death with bereaved families and establish if they have questions or any concerns with care before death
- act as a medical advice resource for the local coroner
- identify cases for further review under local mortality arrangements and contribute to other clinical governance processes.
Medical Certificate of Cause of Death
The 'Medical Certificate of Cause of Death' is the certificate completed by the doctors who looked after the deceased.
This is the certificate that goes to Oxford Registration Services and the information from this is added to the 'Death Certificate' that the Registrar will give you at your appointment to register the death.
Death registration
Medical examiners are required in law to review every death in England and Wales that is not investigated by a coroner.
To confirm this review has been completed, the Medical Examiner must countersign the new version of the medical certificate before it can go the Registrar.
The goal is to create a seamless transition for families going through bereavement.
Without the Medical Examiner's signature on the medical certificate the registration appointment will not be able to take place.
What you need to know
The reforms to death certification and the introduction of medical examiners started on 9 September 2024. As part of the changes, a new Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) replaces the previous certificate.
Medical practitioners must use the new MCCD.
When death occurs in OUH or Sobell House
Doctors will speak with the Medical Examiner and agree a cause of death.
Once a cause of death is agreed, the named next of kin (as documented in the medical records) will be contacted by the Bereavement Services / Medical Examiner Office, who will explain the certificate, answer any questions and, if all is well, give the next of kin the go-ahead to make an appointment to register. They can also help with explaining next steps.
Families have five days to register a death from the moment the registration service receives the MCCD from the Medical Examiner Office.
If the death needs to be referred to the Coroner's Office, this will be done through Bereavement Services and we will keep you fully informed.
Where religious / cultural needs mean burials have to take place as soon as possible, we will process the paperwork as quickly as we can, and the Registration Service will offer you the earliest possible appointment, so that your loved one's body can be released to you.
In order to make a registration appointment to facilitate early release we will need proof that the funeral is booked or in the event of repatriation that a flight has been booked and confirmed.
When death occurs in the community
GP surgeries will make a referral to the Oxfordshire Medical Examiner Office and the death will then be reviewed and a cause of death will be agreed.
The Medical Examiner Office will contact the next of kin (as documented in the medical records), explain the certificate, answer any questions and, if all is well, give them the go-ahead to make an appointment to register. They can also help with explaining next steps.
Families have five days to register a death from the moment registration services receives the MCCD from the Medical Examiner Office.
If the death needs to be referred to the Coroner's Office, this will be undertaken by the GP practice and the Medical Examiner Office will not be involved.
The named next of kin will need to complete an Authorisation for the Release of a Deceased Patient Form, and register the death before their body can be released.
The release form and the green form (provided at registration of death) will need to be brought to the hospital by your Funeral Director, if you have appointed one, in order for the body to be released into their care.
Deaths can be registered at the Register Offices in:
- Oxford
- Banbury
- Abingdon
- Bicester
- Didcot
- Henley
- Witney.
After the death has been registered, the Registrar will email the Green Form for burial or cremation directly to your Funeral Director, if you have appointed one.
For more information please visit:
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
Following the loss of your baby. What to expect when you leave hospital - taking care of your physical wellbeing (pdf)
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:
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.
Last reviewed:19 September 2024