UK Child Post-Mortem Delays Hit 6 Months for 1 in 5 Families as Pathologist Vacancies Top One-Third
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 29
UK Child Post-Mortem Delays Hit 6 Months for 1 in 5 Families as Pathologist Vacancies Top One-Third
1 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 29
One in five bereaved families in the UK now wait six months or more for child post-mortem results, leaving parents without answers on how their child died.
More than a third of pathologist posts are vacant, and only 52 consultant child pathologists remain nationwide; some regions, including the Midlands and South West, have none.
Sheffield Children's Hospital handles about 500 child post-mortems a year, including 120 sudden deaths, with lead pathologist Marta Cohen covering 85% of those cases and taking referrals from as far as Kent and Newcastle.
The strain is worsening as bodies can arrive a month late while coroners search for specialists, and 25% of the current workforce is expected to retire within five years.
Families and doctors are urging government action on training and staffing, while the Department of Health said avoidable distress is unacceptable and pledged more NHS training posts.
With grieving families in limbo, is the pathologist crisis just one symptom of a terminally ill NHS?
Why are medical students being warned away from the specialty needed most to solve unexplained child deaths?