Introduction
This Death Administration SOP has amalgamated several existing processes on Radar and Clinical Toolkit:
- Supported verification of life extinct in an expected death Severnside Out of Hours (OOH)
- Requests for death certificates in OOH
- Death Verification and Management of ‘Expected’, ‘Unexpected but not a surprise’ and ‘Unexpected’ Deaths in OOH
- Procedure for the management of resuscitated deceased persons during out of hours following NHS 111 telephone assessment or 999 ambulance call in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG)
During the COVID pandemic, the death verification process and guidance supported remote verification. Remote verification is no longer supported. The former pandemic protocols for remote verification have ceased.
Severnside clinicians will continue to discuss community deaths with paramedics and other healthcare professionals to help with decision-making around expected vs unexpected deaths, but responsibility for verification of death lies with a trained and competent person, who is physically present with the deceased.
