Many people from Ilkeston and across Erewash rely on Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre for specialist NHS treatment, including maternity, trauma, cancer and other specialist services.
Now Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has apologised after a regulator uncovered serious failings in its mortuary service during an unannounced inspection.
The Human Tissue Authority (HTA), which regulates mortuary services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, carried out the inspection in March this year at Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital.
Inspectors identified three critical, six major and one minor shortfalls.
Among the most serious findings was that eight bodies had reached an advanced state of deterioration after insufficient freezer capacity meant they remained in refrigerated storage for too long instead of being transferred into freezers. The regulator said this affected the dignity of the deceased.
The inspection also found that identification wristbands were not always physically checked before bodies were released to funeral directors. Instead, staff sometimes relied solely on accompanying paperwork because bodies were sealed in specialist bags, increasing the risk of the wrong body being released.
Inspectors also found dozens of reportable incidents had not been notified to the regulator and identified concerns over some baby post-mortem examinations and aspects of mortuary procedures. The trust has since taken action to address a number of the issues raised.
The findings come only days after Donna Ockenden published her independent review into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
Her report identified recurring failures to protect the dignity of the deceased and highlighted examples including the wrong baby being released to funeral directors, an early gestation baby being disposed of as clinical waste and a mother whose body deteriorated so badly that her family were advised not to view her before her funeral.
The mortuary concerns first came to wider public attention following the case of Harriet Hawkins, who was stillborn in 2016. Her parents later discovered her body had deteriorated significantly before her funeral, prompting further investigations into post-death care.
Separately, Nottinghamshire Police confirmed two men, aged 55 and 59, have been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office as part of Operation Perth, the force’s ongoing investigation into maternity services at the trust. Police said the investigation identified breaches of the Human Tissue Act relating to mortuary management and operating practices. Both men have since been released on bail while enquiries continue.
Responding to the inspection, Nottingham University Hospitals chief executive Anthony May apologised for the failings and said the trust had introduced an action plan and commissioned a separate review into mortuary services.
The trust said it was “truly sorry” that its mortuary services had fallen below the standards expected and said improvements were already under way.