- 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.
Changes to how Medical Certificates are issued
In some parts of the country the Department of Health is working with coroners and registration services to test a proposed new system of death certification. This is designed to improve the quality of death certification as well as making it easier for bereaved people to understand the cause of death and discuss any concerns they may have.
You will be told by the hospital or doctor if they are taking part in one of the pilot sites for the programme. The main difference you will notice is that you may be spoken to by an independent doctor called a Medical Examiner or one of their team - A Medical Examiner's Officer. This is an opportunity for you to ask questions about anything you do not understand about the cause of death.
Eventually all certificates will have to be agreed by a medical examiner although this may not be fully introduced until 2013. 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 and regulations have gone through Parliament.