Website of the Department of Health

Video guide to the post mortem procedure

In line with the Chief Medical Officer's recommendations to improve public understanding of the post mortem process, the Department of Health has commissioned and produced a short video, entitled Respect for the Dead, Care for the Living.

The aim of the video is to help explain to relatives the difference between a coroner's post-mortem and a hospital post-mortem requiring consent, and how carrying out a post-mortem can benefit the family of the deceased (for example by providing clinical information that might be beneficial to other family members in the future, or simply by providing definitive answers about why the person died). The video consists of interviews with relatives giving account of their personal experiences, interspersed with appropriate explanations from professionals, including a coroner, a pathologist and a mortuary technician.

Obtain the DVD or video from the DH Publications Order Line at dh@prolog.uk.com quoting Smart code 40597 (DVD) or 40084 (Video). There are also available a small number of BSL signed videos (Smart code 40198).

Also still available is the video/CD-ROM 'Parents and post mortems' (Smart codes 31007/31008).