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32 Medico-Legal J. 1 (1964)

handle is hein.journals/medlgjr32 and id is 1 raw text is: EDUIORIAL MORTUARIES A LOCAL health authority or parish council in England and Wales is required to provide mortuary accommodation, which responsibility may be shared with adjacent authorities. In London combination of boroughs has in some places brought about the provision of up-to-date well equipped buildings, the most recent being a particu- larly fine mortuary and Coroner's court at Southwark, which is well worth a visit. Under the London Government Act mortuary powers have been left in the hands of the boroughs and it is to be hoped that consultation with neighbours, and with the coroners and pathologists concerned, will precede any projected change in mortuary provision. The number of deaths reported to coroners in a year is now ioo,ooo and in London ii,ooo or 12,000. Most of these reports result in autopsy in a public mortuary. Originally mortuaries were merely dead houses for the deposit of corpses found drowned or in crowded homes but rapid development of forensic medicine has altered this primitive function. The modem mortuary provides for both storage and post- mortem examination. In rural areas the storage function is still important but in London this has so dwindled that in one mortuary serving four boroughs fewer than I% accommodation cases are received in a year. Attention must therefore be focused on the medico-legal aspect of the public mortuary. Until 1956 few local authorities paid much attention to their mortuaries and many were in a deplorable condition. They were sited in graveyards, council yards and back streets, they lacked refrigeration or proper lighting; many did not have running water. In 1956 the Ministry of Housing and Local Government issued a bulletin Planning of Mortuaries and Post-mortem Accommodation which suggested minimum standards for construction and amenity. It mentions that relatives who come to see bodies are entitled to decent surroundings and waiting accommodation and to proper viewing facilities. Since this time conditions have improved although many mortuaries, even in London, still leave much to be desired. In less densely populated urbanized areas adequate facilities are still essential, although there is less opportunity for combination between neighbouring authorities. In many larger country towns coroners' post-mortem examinations are done in hospital mortuaries. There is no objection in principle to this and saving may come from avoiding duplication of arrangements. If hospital accommodation is used for homicide cases, or those raising important considerations of civil liability, there should be a private post-mortem room and refrigerator which can be locked against unauthorized entry: in a busy public mortuary similar provision is desirable. In remote and sparsely populated districts choice lies between transport of bodies over long distances and the acceptance of a lower standard of mortuary. It may be necessary in places to face these lower standards. An equally pressing need is for the extension of toxicological services. The Home Office forensic science laboratories, supplemented by practising pathologists, provide these at present but both of these agencies are grossly overworked. The addition of laboratories staffed by technicians under the supervision of scientific officers should be considered when new larger mortuaries are built. These would serve the coroners' cases and help to ease pressure on the scientific laboratories, particularly in carrying out such frequently performed estimations as urine alcohols in motoring cases. Whether these could come under the Home Office aegis, and whether suitable staff could be recruited, is a matter for exploration. The time has come for more readily available toxicological examinations, a development which could well be included as part of the mortuary services.

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