Review over bodies on wards cases

The health board said it acted in the best interests of the grieving family Your views on this story

Hospital facilities in the west of Scotland are undergoing a "rapid review" after BBC Scotland revealed two cases of bodies being left on wards.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) confirmed that a body had been left at Glasgow's Royal Infirmary last week.

It recently emerged that another body had been left on a ward in Stobhill Hospital for about seven hours.

NHS GGC said the review to determine "additional flexibility or capacity" would be completed within two weeks.

It will look at the availability of single room accommodation.

Mortuary facilities will also be examined to ensure that private viewing facilities are of an appropriate standard.

The latest case came to light after a member of the public contacted BBC Scotland.

They said their relative was on a four-bed ward in the Royal Infirmary and that a body had been left from lunchtime until about 2100 BST.

The person who contacted the BBC said their relative was very upset about the incident and was unimpressed with how the hospital had handled it.

A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde insisted staff acted in the best interests of a grieving family.

The health board said the patient died "suddenly and unexpectedly" last Tuesday.

'Inappropriate and distressing'

"It was the wishes of the grieving family that the body remain on the ward so that family members could gather to pay their last respects and also await a blessing by a priest," the spokesman said.

"Mindful of the need to balance the request made by the family with the needs of other patients, staff arranged for the patient's body to be screened from view."

The health board spokesman added that, because visiting time had begun by the time the family left the deceased, it would have been "inappropriate and distressing" to have moved the body.

"As soon as visiting time was over, staff made arrangements for a respectful transfer of the body to the mortuary," he said.

"We believe that, on this occasion, our staff acted in the best interests of a grieving family."

Dr Jean Turner said: "There are not enough beds"

The case came to light five days after BBC Scotland revealed a body had been left at Stobhill Hospital in June.

Christine Martin, from Glasgow, described how the man in the bed next to her husband, David, died at about 1100 BST, but his body was not removed until after 1800 BST.

NHS GGC had agreed to leave the body until a relative arrived, but there was a further delay in the removal afterwards.

The dead man's son said hospital staff had acted with "utter compassion" to his request to see the body on the ward before it was taken to the mortuary.

Dr Jean Turner, chief executive of the Patients' Association, said she believed the cases were evidence of "not having enough beds in the system".

She added: "It is not only the dead body that has to lie there for a long time, but you might have a disruptive patient within a four-bedded ward whereby they can't shift that person as they would normally.

"There are not enough beds and not enough rooms to isolate people.

"When you are very ill, you know you are near to your own mortality sometimes and when somebody dies in the bed next to you it is quite a blow because you think you might be next, you can contemplate your own mortality."