Bereavement Services
Contacting Oxford University Hospitals Bereavement Services
All offices provide a service Monday to Friday , except Bank Holidays .
John Radcliffe Hospital Tel : 01865 220110
Churchill Hospital Tel : 01865 225022
Horton General Hospital Tel : 01295 229386
Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre Please contact us via the PALS Office . Tel : 01865 738126
Bereavement Services for late miscarriage , still-birth or neonatal death Tel : 01865 221663
A specialist bereavement midwife and a dedicated team provide care and support for women and their families .
Oxford University Hospitals Bereavement Services
Deaths in Hospital
When your loved one dies in hospital , the Bereavement Service will be in touch with you to talk through the next steps . This service is provided across all of our hospital sites .
The Bereavement Service knows that families need time to grieve before dealing with the practical side of things . We will not , as a rule , phone you the same day as your loved one dies for this reason , but we will already be working on getting the legal paperwork ready for you . Sometimes it may be necessary for us to make a referral to the Coroner ’ s office . If this needs to be done the Bereavement Officer assigned to help you will guide you through what will happen next .
Families should wait to receive a phone call from the Bereavement Office to advise them that the process of producing the correct documentation , including the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death ( MCCD ) has started .
The service is available Monday to Friday 9am-4pm ( we are closed at weekends and on bank holidays ). If the death occurs during a Bank Holiday weekend , the Bereavement Service will phone you when the office reopens .
The Bereavement team work closely with the Medical Examiner Service which is a statutory system that comes into force from 9 September 2024 across England and Wales . The Medical Examiner Service is an independent service which will be required to scrutinise all deaths that are not investigated by a coroner . When this becomes statutory no death can be registered until the MCCD has been signed off by the Oxfordshire Medical Examiner Office .
The Bereavement team will notify you as soon as this has been done . Every effort will be made to keep delays in you being able to register the death to a minimum , but please be aware that this may not always be possible .
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ADVICE AND HELPLINE :
0345 241 2489