In the event of a death:

If the death occurs at home or in residential care the doctor should be called. It may be that your local doctor attends in person or, if it is outside surgery hours, it’s possible that a duty doctor will attend. The funeral director should be called once the doctor has confirmed that the person has died. The doctor’s surgery will forward the necessary documentation directly to the Registrar, who will then contact the next of kin to begin the registration process.

When the death occurs in a hospital, the relevant doctor will issue the medical certificate for registration which will be forwarded directly to Registrar, once again, the next of kin will be contacted to begin the registration process. In some circumstances, the doctor may need to refer the death to the coroner’s office. Should this happen, the Coroner’s Officer will contact you and explain the procedure.