End of Life preparation

Useful information for end of life at home

Here is a brief guide to what will need to happen should your family member pass away at home.

At the time your family member passes:

• Call the number given by the District Nurse or Palliative Care team
• Or, if no number has been given call the GP surgery – use their out of hours number if applicable
• A Doctor or District Nurse will attend to verify that death has happened (please note this is not the registration process, that happens separately afterwards).
• At this time you can call your chosen funeral director to let them know.
• Should you wish for time with your family member, just let your funeral director know when you would like them to arrive.
• Keep the room cool and keep your family member covered in a sheet – avoid warm quilts or blankets and please close windows.

The White Rose home collection team

Where possible we like to do home collections ourselves so families can meet us. We arrive in a black galaxy and wear smart jeans with our discreetly branded jacket or polo shirts – all non funereal as this is more comforting for a family and in particular if young children are around.

If we are personally unable to attend, it will be our lovely driver Rob or a member of our outsourced team.

Collection fee for private homes and care homes

For collecting a family member who has died from a private home, a £250 collection fee applies as personnel requirements differ from scheduled hospital collections.

Registering the death

• During Covid restrictions the registration process was handled by telephone, however after 24th March 2022 the Coronavirus Act 2020 ends and in-person registrations will return once more.
• The Medical Cause of Death Certificate (MCCD) will be created by GP and sent to a Medical Examiner who will check everything is in order. They will then send it on to the relevant Register office – usually they will inform you once they have done this.
• The specific register office you will need to contact is can be identified here based on the location of where the death occurred – if you visit the Register Office website to see how to book a telephone appointment – some require you to complete an online form first.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with the White Rose team on 020 3281 1045. If you wish for us to be on standby, it would be helpful if you could please complete our planning ahead form – please note there is no obligation to use us but this gives us some useful details so that we can be better prepared.