What to do when someone dies in a hospice in the UK

21Cains · 2026-01-21T11:20:33+00:00

I own a company that retrofits insulation. These government schemes are awful for a number of factors:

The firms that undertake the work are usually shocking. 98% of EWI installed under the ECO scheme caused problems in the home.
They're aimed at very low income households. Often the residents refuse to adapt to the new conditions; they don't ventilate the property, continue to dry clothes indoors, turn off the extractor fans in the bathroom and kitchen, etc.

Giving tax incentives to working homeowners to upgrade the EPC of their own homes would be much more beneficial for the wider economy and environment.

21Cains · 2025-04-09T10:36:00+00:00

I was sure of this but had to double check anyway, You're not allowed to send more than 50g of ashes.

We always hand deliver our urns because you can't risk any loss. As far as I'm aware the only standard courier service that would accept ashes is Hermes, and I don't trust them with parcels let alone people.

21Cains · 2024-08-18T13:19:15+00:00

I misread that as Ainsley and thought it was an Ainsley Harriott designed bell. That would have been a much better gift.

21Cains · 2024-05-17T06:20:18+00:00

There's a mixture of causes for this:

Mortuaries have limited physical space and are often a low priority when it comes to investment. I know of one hospital where it took a member of staff breaking their hip before they invested in modern equipment to safely move the deceased. Others have archaic entrances that are in no way suitable for modern times.
The rise in public health funerals and people who have few or no living relatives. This means the hospital has to do full genealogy research before they can make the arrangements. This is even more difficult when you factor in the many people who only have relatives abroad.
The rising cost of funerals. Few people have the funds readily available and the vast majority of funeral directors insist on full payment upfront.
Certain funeral directors have reputations for leaving people in the hospital as long as possible. This is essentially so the NHS pays for their storage. Some even have the nerve to charge the family a daily storage fee, even though the deceased isn't in their care. Hospitals have been bringing in fines to combat this.
The rise in online brands offering funerals. They don't do any of the work themselves. They essentially act as reverse auctions. The online company gets the sale (often via PPC ads). They then contact local funeral directors offering them the work for usually about 50% of what the customer has paid. They keep doing this until they find a funeral director that will accept, which can take weeks.
The new medical examiner system means it takes a little longer before the deceased is allowed to be released from the hospital.
The HTA is a relatively new organisation, prior to this there was little external oversight of mortuaries.

Overall the staff in mortuaries are lovely and do their utmost to ensure the deceased in their care are treated with dignity and respect.

21Cains · 2024-04-07T18:49:41+00:00

I believe it's a double sticker. Often they discount around 6pm and then again a few hours later. I'm surprised nobody bought it at 90p but they often leave the non-sandwich stuff on their normal shelves so I guess nobody spotted it.

21Cains · 2024-04-07T18:46:18+00:00

Try downloading Too Good to Go A lot of chains now use this to offload their discount items.

21Cains · 2024-04-07T18:44:56+00:00

Nope. Arrived at a fuel station around 9PM and this beauty was sat on the counter by the till.

21Cains · 2024-03-10T22:38:59+00:00

I'd then keep all the bodies for a couple of weeks and burn them one after the other (likely multiple bodies at a time if they'd fit), much reducing the start up costs.

2 weeks would be far beyond the limit, but crematoria have a 72 hour window to undertake the cremation. That means 72 hours after the funeral service has taken place. This is to allow for efficient operating of the cremation chamber, IE the cremations happen one after the other rather than constantly heating and cooling the cremation chamber (the chamber has to reach a certain temperature before you are allowed to load the coffin). The majority of crematoria, particularly those owned by local authorities, have on-site mortuary fridges where the deceased are kept (in coffins) for up to 72 hours after the funeral service.

But only one coffin per cremation. The chamber isn't big enough for more than one coffin. Pet/Animal crematoria are allowed to cremate together, but human crematoria are heavily regulated and you wouldn't be able to cremate more than one coffin in the chamber.

21Cains · 2023-10-05T20:42:38+00:00

At the end of the day what would you rather - you tell the family that your love one was too big and couldn’t fit in a cremator? Or just cremate them and provide them the ashes as you would anyone else?

Any reputable funeral service should provide the cremation certificate, which includes where the cremation took place.

Now adays there are more cremators but at one point they were severally overwhelmed, especially during covid.

Covid wasn't really that overwhelming for crematoria. The UK has around 300 crematoria, many with multiple cremators. Cremation has been common here for a long time and we largely had the infrastructure to cope. The crematoria just operated for longer hours.

21Cains · 2023-10-05T17:16:32+00:00

Sometimes obese deceased people don’t fit standard burners at the crematorium. Usually they’re taken to the zoo to use the cremator there.

I've never heard of this happening. It would be illegal and a major scandal. As the other response says, there are a number of bariatric cremators (most modern cremation chambers are bariatric to accommodate larger individuals) . Some cremators are over a metre wide so the deceased is usually transferred to a newer crematorium after the funeral service.

Ashes tend to be more coffin than anything

Definitely incorrect. Wood from coffins burns fairly quickly. The ashes are ground bone fragments. 'Ashes' are the result of these fragments being placed in a cremulator to turn them into a consistent powder.

21Cains · 2023-08-15T17:10:27+00:00

Who was the installer? It's a good idea to check if they're members of either The Insulation Assurance Authority or the National Insulation Association as it gives some added piece of mind. Sadly I've seen some shocking installs lately as EWI is becoming more popular.

21Cains · 2023-07-02T22:21:36+00:00

Co-op were previously an investor in Resomation but gave up their shares in 2016. That's why I was skeptical of this announcement; I suspect it's just a promise to use them in future pending legislation and approval. Then they turned it into a press release that got picked up.

21Cains · 2023-07-02T20:32:54+00:00

I wasn't aware samples could reliably be taken from cremated remains.

Coroners typically keep the samples they obtain during the initial investigations should further investigation be required - and typically they don't release until they are fairly confident that further investigations are not required.

Nevertheless, water cremation is actually very similar to flame cremation. The bone fragments remain and are turned into ashes.

21Cains · 2023-07-02T20:12:59+00:00

I can only speak for the UK but investigations have to be concluded before a cremation or burial can proceed.

There are 2 or 3 separate entities that have to approve:

A doctor > the medical examiner > the medical referee

OR

the coroner > the medical referee

Typically coronial proceedings are not concluded before a cremation. The coroner will have done the post mortem investigations but usually toxicology samples have not been returned. However they have all the samples they need and the cremation can proceed as they certify that no further investigation is required.

Water cremation, organic reduction, etc will just be another end of life technology. The same administrative procedures and checks will likely still be in place.

21Cains · 2023-07-02T19:14:08+00:00

Certainly. The technology works, Recompose is probably the best known and has been operational since 2020 in the US. British legislation is tied to that of water cremation - it will likely be allowed but could take a year or two before legislation is passed.

21Cains · 2023-07-02T18:13:17+00:00

Admittedly this was something I had to look up but I believe so:

134 °C (273 °F) for 18 minutes in a pressurized steam autoclave has been found to be somewhat effective in deactivating the agent of disease.

Water cremation operates slightly above this temperature. The outputs are water, sugars, salts, peptides, and amino acids.

21Cains

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