Swapping a scalpel for a scanner

MRI hospital scanner

Do you want to be cut open when you die? Many people, especially the Muslim and Jewish communities, oppose the idea of post mortem examinations.

But Manchester is leading the way in providing a more compassionate choice.

When someone dies suddenly, it is the coroner's duty to investigate the death, which can mean a full post mortem.

But uniquely in Greater Manchester, families are offered a choice: a body scan of their loved one instead.

The scans are carried out at Rochdale Infirmary or North Manchester General Hospital. At £885 a time, the procedure doesn't come cheap. But it's now seen as a realistic alternative to the pathologist's knife.

Manchester's pioneering 'scan' post mortems have been spearheaded by Bolton coroner Jennifer Leeming who said that, while it may not always be possible, results so far proved it was a realistic option for many.

"I am delighted to be able to offer this option of scans to the bereaved because I am totally satisfied that it can, in appropriate cases, reveal the cause of death," she said.

THE CORONER'S TOOL KIT A Manchester coroner may investigate a death by: talking to the deceased's GP or consultant arranging an MRI scan of the body order an invasive post mortem by a hospital pathologist order a full forensic post mortem (if the death is suspicious)

Now 'scanning post mortems' are set to be rolled out across the country in a major overhaul of the 100 year old law surrounding coroners.

The idea of scanning started back in 1999 when Manchester's Jewish community in North Manchester objected to what they saw as needlessly invasive examinations of the dead.

Rabbi Jonathan Guttentag explained that it was the brainchild of a senior Jewish figure Solomon 'Shlomo' Adler who asked that if living people could be scanned, why not dead ones?

"Jewish people take very seriously the idea of dignity with death," he said. "Any physical act such as dissection of a body after death is prohibited by Jewish law."

Muslims also have religious concerns for the sanctity of the body and, in Manchester, have embraced the new practice. Indeed, the Bolton Council of Mosques has even installed its own mini mortuary to hold bodies for scanning.

Certain investigations, such as suspicious deaths, will always involve invasive post mortems. And other deaths will not be suitable for scanning.

If the death is caused in some criminal way, and it is necessary to carry out a full post mortem in order to find evidence, then the coroner will have the right to do that Justice Minister Bridget Prentice

But the the change in practice means that all families may soon have scanning as an option if the idea of a loved one being dissected is too upsetting.

The Manchester model is now seen as so successful that it's now being considered as part of reforms to the 100 year old coroner's system currently before parliament.

Issues still remain about MRI scanners being used for the dead and the living. And the cost is still seen as prohibitive for many families.

But, on Tuesday 21 March, Justice Minister Bridget Prentice met local faith leaders at the Rochdale Infirmary MRI scanner to discuss the merits of the Manchester model.

"If this system [in Greater Manchester] works, and we're still researching how good it is, then it will be available to any family with one caveat," she said.

"If the death is caused in some criminal way, and it is necessary to carry out a full post mortem in order to find evidence, then the coroner will have the right to do that."

Adding: "Having talked to members of the Jewish and Muslim community, they understand that. And I think families even in their most grieving moment would understand."