Funeral director’s ‘impact’ warning

A funeral director has warned of potential “psychological problems for years to come” as families do not have time to grieve properly due to coronavirus restrictions.

Funeral director Alistair Thomas, from Green Oak Funeral Services in Greenock, Inverclyde, said the number of bereaved families had been around triple what it usually was.

But he said restrictions on visiting families in their homes and the 30-minute limit on funeral services at crematoriums was having a real impact on people.

He fears mourners are left in a state of disbelief amid the shortness of funeral services – and warned of an impact for years to come.

Mr Thomas said: “People aren’t starting the grieving process at the moment. As the services are so short, people come out thinking ‘what was that about?’ They don’t believe the person has gone. People can’t go and get a cup of tea and chat about the good times afterwards either. It’s having a significant impact on people and families.

“This is going to be a huge psychological problem for years to come.”

He did not want to put an exact figure on the number of people the home has looked after during March and April compared with last year, but said he believed it could be as much as a threefold increase.

And he said the restrictions were having an impact on his staff too, as they tried to provide a good service remotely.

Mr Thomas said: “The restrictions mean that we’re not able to fulfil everything that families expect from us.

“Everyone understands that it’s nothing to do with the funeral director, but it’s just such a shame.

“It’s the face-to-face service that means so much.

“We build up a relationship when we meet families that you can’t build up in the same way over the phone.”