Wrong Body Cremated At Funeral Of West Midlands MEP Philip Bradbourn
5 March 2015, 16:38 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50
An investigation's going on after it emerged the wrong body was cremated at a West Midlands MEP's funeral.
Philip Bradbourn died in the Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield in December.
His funeral took place in January. But the man who was cremated was actually Philip Bradburn, who had passed away at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in December.
Both were taken to the same mortuary run by Central England Co-operative Funeralcare.
The Heart of England Foundation Trust has apologised saying it's an incredibly distressing situation.
They've released the following statement to Heart: "The Trust can confirm that it is carrying out a full investigation into a recent incident, involving two people with similar names, as a result of which the wrong deceased patient was cremated. Services have been held for both of the deceased."
Dr Andrew Catto, Executive Medical Director and interim Deputy Chief Executive, Heart of England Foundation Trust, said: “This is an incredibly distressing situation and we are very sorry that this has happened. We are carrying out a full and urgent investigation between all the parties involved. This is a rare incident and we are offering support to those close to the deceased.
“Once the Trust became aware, it acted immediately. We are committed to finding out precisely what happened and reducing the possibility of it happening again.
“This occurred in spite of the fact that mortuary procedures conform to nationally defined standards and are subject to periodic audit.
“We are committed to supporting the request for privacy in this matter from those close to the deceased.”
A spokesperson for Central England Co-operative Funeralcare said:
“The Society’s Funeralcare operation provides services to a number of hospitals within the Birmingham area but it is not our policy to comment on behalf of any of these organisations. The Society is supporting one of our partners in a full and open investigation but is not able to comment further while the investigation is on-going.”
