Medical negligence causes wrong body to be buried
A hospital mortuary mix-up which led to a family cremating the wrong body has triggered concerns.
The Hospital have suspended the staff member who was responsible for the medical negligence and he is now facing disciplinary action.
It was found that the man had been previously given a strict ‘job plan,’ because he could not perform more than one task at a time or prioritise his work.
The gross professional negligence blunder was revealed when a funeral director arrived at Tameside General Hospital to pick up the body.
Initial investigations by the hospital found that bodies were stored one below the other in the mortuary.
The family had to attend a second funeral for which the hospital bosses have apologised to both families and launched an immediate probe.
The injury lawyer of the family said: "This entire incident is bring thoroughly investigated and our clients wish to ensure that following this investigation, that there will be no prospect of a recurrence of this most traumatic episode and that those responsible are held, where appropriate, to account."
The other family's medical negligence lawyer said: “The trust’s investigation report has concluded that the wrong body was released and that the Trust Standard Operating Procedure and the National Guidelines of the Association of Funeral Directors were not followed.”
Updated on 08/02/2010