Registrar General launches probe into death certificate delay - but insists they’re not his office’s fault
The Registrar General said today his office was not the cause of major delays in the issuing of death certificates to grieving families.
Aubrey Pennyman was speaking after two families highlighted waits of months before they received the certificates, which are needed to settle estates.
Mr Pennyman said: "Under normal circumstances, the application for a death certificate is received by a funeral home and processed as a matter of urgency.
“However, when the Coroner's Office or the Magistrate Court is reviewing a particular death, the Registry General cannot process the application or issue a death certificate until we receive the death notice from either the Coroner or Magistrate Court.”
He was speaking after a Devonshire woman waited three months for a death certificate for her husband, who died in July.
A Smith’s woman later told The Royal Gazette she had to wait nine months to get the document for her son, who died in September last year.
Juan Wolffe, the senior magistrate who signs off on autopsy reports, said the coroner’s office processed its information within 48 hours.
The pathology department at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital said a communications error over the Devonshire man’s certificate meant the coroner’s office was not notified on time.
Mr Wolffe said the hospital’s report only reached the coroner’s office on October 21.
Clyde Wilson, the hospital’s chief of pathology, said the two departments would improve their communications.
Mr Pennyman confirmed that the Devonshire man’s autopsy report got to the Registry General on October 23 and was processed the same day.
He added: "The funeral director was notified immediately and collected the death certificate on October 27.“
He said the other delay was now under investigation – and that the Registry General would inform the family of the results.
Mr Pennyman added: "The Registry General would like to emphasise that we appreciate the sensitivity where the death of a loved one has occurred, and we also completely understand that a death certificate is required to settle the affairs of the deceased."
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