Department of Health

Website of the Department of Health

Please note that this website has a UK government access keys system.

You are here:

Pandemic influenza: Guidance on the management of death certification and cremation certification

This document proposes changes to the procedures for death and cremation certification that could be used in a severe influenza pandemic in order to enable doctors to spend as much time as possible on the care of the living and to ensure that processes for death and cremation certification can be managed as effectively as possible during a pandemic

Invitation to comment

The UK’s plans for responding to an influenza pandemic are set out in the recently published Pandemic Flu: A national framework for responding to an influenza pandemic.

To assist responders in developing their local plans further this draft guidance has been produced with the participation and advice of subject experts and representatives from key stakeholder groups.

We are seeking wider comments on this draft and would particularly welcome views and contributions from those individuals and organisations involved in pandemic influenza planning and preparedness. These will be collated and analysed in depth and used to inform final guidance on this issue, which will be available on the DH website in the summer.

We would be grateful for your comments by 22 February 2008. Please send your comments and feedback to our dedicated email address or in writing to

  • Contact:
    The Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Team
  • Address:
    Department of Health
    452C Skipton House
    80 London Road
    London SE1 6LH
  • Email:
    pandemicflu@dh.gsi.gov.uk

Additional links

Related links

Ordering publications

Contact details for obtaining hard-copy DH publications.

Help viewing PDFs

Help viewing PDFs

Useful tips to ensure you get the most from PDFs and the free Reader program. Topics covered include accessibility, troubleshooting and searching files.

Additional Links

Access keys