"So much distress caused by a lost form"

My Mum was in a Care Home and the manager & I did a 'statement of Intent', as the doctor was coming later that day.

Mum had advanced dementia and was not well. A couple of days later, in the early hours, I was phoned from the home that Mum had passed away. When I got to the home the police had been called because the form was not 'in situ' although death was expected. So instead of Mum going straight to the funeral directors, she had to go to Tameside Hospital.

It then gets worse - I was told a Death Certificate could be issued by the doctor which we eventually collected on the Friday after numerous phone-calls. I then made an appointment with the Registry Office for the Monday- took the certificate with me only to be told nothing could be issued as the paperwork from the Coroner was not there!

I went right away to the doctors and explained what had happened-they said they would contact the Coroner's Office and get back to me later. By the time they did, the phone number was incorrect and by the time I got the correct one the person I needed to speak to had gone home!

The following day I managed to speak to her, get the paperwork sorted and to the Registrar and Mum's death certificate was finally issued. This was 1 week after her death and the whole idea of a 'statement of intent' is to prevent unnecessary grief. It didn't work. I cannot understand why the paperwork was not with the professionals needed when a document can be scanned and sent.