Bodies in Nottingham NHS trust mortuary in state of ‘advanced deterioration’, inspectors say

Bodies in the mortuary at the NHS trust at the centre of the health services biggest ever maternity care scandal were found in a state of “advanced deterioration” due to not being transferred to a freezer in time, inspectors have said. Human Tissue Authority (HTA) inspectors who visited Nottingham university hospitals NHS trust in March discovered eight bodies in a state of advanced decomposition due to not being transferred to a freezer within a sufficient timeframe. The inspectors concluded that the trust, which is the subject of the NHS’s largest inquiry into maternity services, has “insufficient storage to meet the needs of the mortuary service”. Hundreds of mothers and babies died or were harmed at ‘toxic’ NHS trust - The Latest Inspectors also found that identification wristbands were not always checked when bodies, which were kept in hermetically sealed bags due to their deterioration, were transferred to funeral services, increasing the risk of the wrong body being released to families. Problems with mortuary care at the trust emerged after the parents of Harriet Hawkins , who was stillborn at Nottingham city hospital in 2016, questioned why her body had decomposed so badly in the mortuary it had to be “triple-bagged” for her funeral. …