As some of you good people are aware, my aunt Phyllis died last Wednesday. As her next of kin and executor, I immediately set to work doing the things that executors do.
Her death was confirmed at 6.55pm by paramedics. The manager of the care home advised me to collect the death certificate from the GP the following day so on Thursday I set about trying to do this.
Our family doctor told me that he did not have enough information to issue a death certificate. I contacted the care home again. They told me that the paramedics will have entered the details on Phyllis's medical record and the doctor should have access to that.
On Friday I spoke to the doctor again. He assured me that I would have the death certificate on Monday (today) as it would need to be signed by a second doctor. Dr. One had not seen Phyllis in the last fortnight of her life. Dr. Two, he thought, had. In fact, it was 6 weeks ago that Dr. Two saw Phyllis as he came round to our house on his bike in order to do so.
On the basis that obtaining a death certificate for a 100-year-old who had spent the last 6 weeks of her life in hospital or in a care home ought to be a bit of a formality, I set about arranging the funeral and asked the Co-op to book the crematorium for 19th August. However. I have this afternoon received a call from Dr. One that he has referred this case to the coroner's office.
Given that Phyllis was in hospital less than a fortnight before she died, and that one of the consultants told us that the cause of death "pneumonia" would be entered on Phyllis's death certificate, I would have thought that one of those doctors would be in a position to issue a death certificate. I suppose that such doctors might, theoretically at least, feel somewhat professionally compromised given that a patient discharged from hospital on 20th July as "medically fit" should be dead within a fortnight. However, we live in interesting times...
I have spoken to the coroner's office, and one of their representatives has indeed phoned me back to say that Phyllis's case is with them. I am hoping that everything will be tickety-boo for Monday 19th, but this does feel very like starring in some dystopian black comedy.