Nottingham Hospitals Found 8 Deteriorated Bodies as Mortuary Inspection Flags 3 Critical Failings
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jun 25
Nottingham Hospitals Found 8 Deteriorated Bodies as Mortuary Inspection Flags 3 Critical Failings
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jun 25
Summary
Eight bodies at Nottingham University Hospitals were found in “advanced deterioration” after the trust ran out of freezer space and kept some remains in refrigerated areas instead.
A Human Tissue Authority inspection at Queen’s Medical Centre and City Hospital found three critical, six major and one minor shortfalls, including weak identity checks that risked releasing the wrong bodies to families.
The regulator also found some baby post-mortems were carried out in an inadequately ventilated lab with support staff not trained in mortuary care, while an audit showed more than half of 145 reportable incidents were not escalated.
The findings deepen scrutiny of NUH after Donna Ockenden’s maternity review cited recurring failures to protect the dignity of the deceased, including one baby disposed of as clinical waste and another wrongly passed to funeral directors.
NUH said it was “truly sorry” and had begun an action plan after the March 2026 inspection; separately, two men were bailed in a police misconduct investigation into mortuary operating practices.