- Medical Certificate of Cause of Death - the doctor will give this to you. For a stillborn baby, you will be given a Medical Certificate of Stillbirth by a doctor or midwife. There is a special Medical Certificate of Cause of Death for a baby who has died on or before their 28th day of life. This has to be issued by a doctor. These certificates are usually given to you in a sealed envelope - most doctors (or midwives) will explain what is written or will show you the certificate before it is placed in the envelope.
- Formal notice - This is attached to the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death. The doctor (or midwife) will remove this before placing the main certificate in a specifically designed envelope and give it to you. This confirms that the certificate has been signed and gives a list of people who are entitled to register the death and the information they will need to be able to do this.
About the Medical Certificate
The information given on a Medical Certificate is the official record of the cause of someone's death. You will usually be shown or told what is given as the cause of death. The cause will usually be written in the technical medical language of the diagnosis so do ask if you do not understand what is written, or if you have any other questions. It is essential to ask questions if you disagree with what a doctor has written as it is difficult to change this after the registration.
This information will also be used to create national statistics of how many people die from which illnesses. These statistics are used to plan health care and other public services.
Although you may feel upset if someone's name or age is incorrect on the Medical Certificate from the doctor, this is actually less serious as the Registrar will use the information given by the Informant (the person who actually does the registration) about the deceased to create the entry in the register. Errors in the spelling of a name or an age may creep into a hospital record especially if someone has been admitted as an emergency or they are usually known by a name other than the one on their birth certificate.
Legal changes to the Medical Certificate
A Bill is currently going through Parliament which will alter the way doctors issue Medical Certificates of Cause of Death. The new procedures will not be fully implemented for some time, but this will be piloted in some areas.
Therefore you may be told that a Medical Examiner has to agree with the cause of death before the Medical Certificate can be issued. There is no need to anxious about this - in the future all certificates will have to be agreed by a second doctor called the Medical Examiner. This will be the case for all deaths regardless of whether someone is to be buried or cremated. The additional forms that now have to be completed when someone is to be cremated will eventually be abolished but do still have to be completed until the new legislation is in place.