IN the past six months, there have been two reported instances of cremation mix ups. Bodies have been released incorrectly by a hospital in Gwent due to 'human errors'. The Argus explains what we know about the cases so far.

Deceased person #1

In December 2023, the Argus exclusively revealed that a family held a second funeral after a mix-up of bodies released from the Grange hospital in Cwmbran, part of the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.

The family held one funeral but then had to hold a second funeral for their deceased loved one, after the health board admitted that the wrong body was released from The Grange hospital's mortuary. The mortuary released the body to Co-op Funeralcare, who held the funeral.

A spokesperson for Co-op Funeralcare said: "It is the hospital’s responsibility to identify and release the correct deceased into our care, the hospital has admitted the error in this incident sits with them.

"We have reviewed our own procedures and there is nothing to suggest the wrong deceased was handed over to us at the point of release."

The funeral service explained that there was nothing to suggest the wrong deceased person was handed over.

Regarding the incident, a spokesperson for Aneurin Bevan, said at the time: “We are utterly heartbroken about what has happened to the family and we take responsibility for this isolated incident. Words cannot express how sorry we are. We have met with the family to fully inform them about this situation and to offer them as much support as they need.

“We would also like to reassure the public that this is an exceptional case. We identified this mistake through our own processes and after an initial review we are confident that this is down to an isolated human error. However, we are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding this incident and we will keep family members fully updated throughout our investigation.

“No words we can say, or actions we can take, can put this right. We are deeply sorry, and our thoughts and full support remain with the family.”

Deceased #2

December 2023: Regarding the body that the first person was 'mixed up' with, a spokesperson for Aneurin Bevan, said at the time: “To the current knowledge of the Health Board, there are no known family of the other patient.”

This brings up an interesting question: how many persons with no living relatives, are cremated? And how many deceased people have no living relatives or friends and neighbours that would want to attend a funeral for them?

According to research carried out by Dignity Funeral Services and Scattering Ashes, two companies specialising in burial and cremation, more than 70 per cent of funerals in the UK are cremations. That's more than half of all funerals which lead to the body being cremated.

Processes might vary slightly depending on the crematorium, but Dignity services said: "the identity card of the deceased accompanies the coffin and cremated remains throughout the process, and is attached to the cremator while in use." This is to make sure they can be identified at every stage.

Deceased person #3

News of another body being released incorrectly by The Grange hospital came months after the first case. However, this case happened days before the first case involving deceased persons #1 & #2, perhaps in the same week.

A family was involved in the case as Aneurin Bevan said they had been in touch with the family affected, adding: "We have met with the family to fully inform them about this situation and to offer them as much support as they need."

In March 2024, a spokesperson for the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said this case took so long to come to light because "We have been informed that there is no known family of the other patient and this is the reason there has been a delay in this case being identified."

The health board added: "We have met with the family to fully inform them about this situation and to offer them as much support as they need."

Deceased person #4

Similar to deceased person #2, the health board said a few weeks ago that “there is no known family of the other patient and this is the reason there has been a delay in this case being identified.”

While these are the cases that came to light, there may be others that aren't in the public eye. This raises concerns on how often this happens and do crematoriums and health boards let the families know if it does.

It also raises the question: have others buried or scattered the ashes of the correct relatives?

Now, let's delve into the processes.

Coroner process

The coroner's office deal with the investigation of certain deaths so were not involved in these cases.

Mortuary process

A source explained that the deceased have two ID cards on them (made of metal) when they are in the mortuary, which are checked by numerous staff members. The details will no doubt also be checked by the funeral directors and / or the crematorium. 

Cremation process

According to The Cremation Society in the UK, cremation is governed by a code of ethics and working practices,

One of the most commonly asked questions according to Dignity funeral services is 'How can I be sure that I have the right ashes?'.

The answer: "Most of the cremation process happens behind the scenes. For this reason, it is understandable that people want reassurance that the ashes they receive belong to their loved one.

"When the coffin or casket arrives at the crematorium, it will be accompanied by a nameplate and transfer paperwork. This transfer paperwork stays with your loved one from when we first take them into our care right through to when the burial takes place or the ashes are returned to the family. The stringent and regular checks ensure that we have correctly identified the deceased at all times."

Investigations

Several councillors and members of the Senedd have called on the health minister and the Welsh government to launch a public inquiry into these cases.

This is because they believe an independent investigation is necessary to prevent this from happening again.

Wider issue in the NHS

On March 9, 2024, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: "Taxpayer money should be spent as effectively as possible." Correct, it should.

"That’s why we’re introducing a plan to boost productivity in the public sector. That includes investing £3.4bn to transform the NHS - reducing millions of hours lost by doctors and nurses every year because of old IT," PM Sunak added.

This means the current government wants to allocate £3.4billion to updating the technology in hospitals.

In September 2023, the King's Fund put together data which delved deeper into the NHS budget.

£71.5 billion was paid to NHS provider staff with another £5.2 billion going into other staff costs. 

However in the past year alone, doctors , nurses and ambulance workers have take strike action numerous times. This could be why mistakes such as the cremation mix-ups happened in December 2023, due to burnt out NHS workers. However it is not confirmed.

 

Questions still unanswered

There are still many questions unanswered, and The Argus hopes to uncover them in the coming months.

The privacy of family members has been closely guarded by the Argus. The Argus takes pride in keeping sensitive matters such as these confidential, to preserve the privacy of the families involved.