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<p>Whilst the Government does not have operational responsibility for the provision
of funeral services, we are aware of funeral delays in some areas and acknowledge
that these are often exacerbated by pressures from within the wider death management
system.</p><p>Government departments are taking a collaborative approach to reforming
the death registration system as part of the roll out of the statutory medical examiner
scheme which will come into force in April 2024. The doctor who attended the deceased
during their last illness has a legal responsibility to complete a Medical Certificate
Cause of Death (MCCD) as soon as possible to enable the registration of the death
to take place. Guidance for doctors on completing an MCCD, available on Gov.uk, emphasises
this point. As part of the work on the statutory medical examiner scheme, the Department
of Health and Social Care is looking at expanding the pool of doctors who can sign
the MCCD forms. When the demand on civil registration services is high, death registration
appointments will always take priority over other registration appointments.</p><p>The
Government continues to look at wider improvements to the death management system’s
capacity and resilience, including mortuary capacity. The shortage of pathologists
is a long-standing and cross-cutting issue. The Government is determined to make progress
as soon as practicable. To that end, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State is
engaging with Ministerial colleagues to implement effective solutions through a cross-government
action plan.</p>
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