SC23191 Coroner Removals and Transfer Service

Description

Coroners are independent judicial officers, appointed by the local authority within the coroner area. Local authorities have a legal obligation to support the work of Coroner’s, to fund all the costs of the service and to provide the necessary resources to enable them to carry out their statutory obligations under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. This includes the provision of appropriate contractual arrangements for the removal of the deceased. For the four Kent coroner areas of Mid Kent & Medway, North-West Kent, North-East Kent and Central & South-East Kent, KCC is the lead authority for the administrative areas of Kent and Medway. KCC is legally responsible for meeting all the costs of the coroner service. Medway Council meets its share of all the costs of the service and the basis for this arrangement is set out in a service level agreement. Coroners investigate deaths that have been reported to them if they have reason to think that: The death was violent or unnatural; The cause of death is unknown; or The deceased died while in prison, police custody or another type of state detention. When a death is reported to the Coroner, he or she: establishes whether an investigation is required; if yes, investigates to establish the identity of the person who has died; how, when, and where they died, and any information to register the death; and uses information discovered during the investigation to assist in the prevention of other deaths where possible. Coroners Removals The coroner may decide that a suitable practitioner (normally a pathologist) is required to examine the deceased and carry out a post-mortem examination to discover the cause of death. In this scenario, the deceased needs to be transported from where it is lying to a designated mortuary for further enquiries to be made (to hold a post-mortem if required). The movement of the deceased to the mortuary constitutes a “Coroners Removal”. In the cases where a post-mortem has been deemed necessary, the deceased needs to be transferred from the location of death to one of the designated post-mortem facilities below; QEQM Hospital, Margate William Harvey Hospital, Ashford Medway Maritime Hospital, Gillingham Tunbridge Wells Hospital, Pembury Darenth Valley Hospital, Dartford Coroners Transfer In some cases, it is necessary to transfer the deceased from a designated mortuary to another designated mortuary. These transfers can occur locally as a transfer between mortuaries within Kent and Medway but can occur outside of Kent. This is due to the specific expertise that different mortuaries possess (E.g. London mortuary specialises in child deaths, Brighton mortuary specialises in infectious cases etc.) Cases like these where the deceased is transferred between mortuaries are more commonly known as a “Coroners Transfer”. This procurement is seeking suppliers to deliver both a Coroner Removals and a Coroners Transfer service across the four Kent coroner areas. These areas are divided based on a lotting strategy for both services (a final lotting breakdown will be provided alongside ITT documents). The providers are required to perform the services: 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year; For a coroner’s removal to be at the place of death within 1 hour (75 minutes in Dover CSEK and Sevenoaks) of being directed to attend by Kent County Constabulary; For a transfer, to have completed it within 48 hours of being directed to do so by a Coroner’s Officer; Keywords: Coroner, Mortuary , Transfer and Removals Service