Death certificate delay

SIR – In general practice we now issue electronic prescriptions to a pharmacy of the patient’s choice without the need for paper. Every prescription is numbered and tracked. So the old paper prescription pads are obsolete.

Death certificates (medical certificates of cause of death), however, elude this progress – just when we are requested to issue them within five days despite weekends.

Only one book is allowed per practice and, as doctors are often part-time or work in different places, the appropriate urgency is thwarted.

It seems obvious to GPS on the front line that issuing death certificates should be done by the appropriate doctor electronically from any location. Approximately 1 per cent of every practice list die every year. This adds up to a lot of inconvenience for bereaved relatives having to collect a certificate from the patient’s surgery.

GPS should be able to fill in a certificate and supply relevant extracts from notes into a death certification portal. After appropriate checks, the Medical Examiner could then authorise release of the certificate.

Dr Akash Karki

Dr John Havard

Saxmundham, Suffolk