funerals

The request was successful.

Dear Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust,

I am undertaking a study on the numbers of Public Health/Welfare
Funerals undertaken by NHS Trusts. I would appreciate it if you
would provide answers to the following FOI request.

1. The total number of public health funerals (where the deceased
has no relatives or there is no one else willing to pay) that your
Trust has undertaken for the financial years 2010/11, 2011/12,
2012/13?

2. The number of public health funerals that your Trust has
undertaken by gender for the past 3 financial years?

3. The number of public health funerals that your Trust has
undertaken by age for the past 3 financial years?
Since April 2010, how many cases have there been where family and
friends refuse to finance or make arrangements for their relatives
funeral?

4. How much have the burials/cremations cost the Trust broken down
by year for the last three financial years? This cost information
does not need to include administrative or staff costs, and before
any costs are claimed back by the local authority from the
deceased’s estate

5. How much does your trust typically (average cost) pay for a
Public Health Funeral?

6. What does your Trust provide at a Public Health Funeral?

7. What relationship do you have with your local council(s)
regarding funerals of this nature?

8. Have you observed any of the following over the last three
years?

• Higher numbers or people dying without any income or assets
• Higher numbers of people dying with family or friends unable to
contribute to the costs of a funeral
• Higher numbers of people dying with family or friends unwilling
to contribute to the costs of a funeral
• Higher numbers of people dying with no friends or family

Yours faithfully,

paul ogden

Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust

 
Thank you for the request for information you have sent in under the
[1]Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We will endeavour to answer your request within the next 20 working
days.

Should your request fall under any of the exemptions of the [2]Freedom
of Information Act 2000, we will not be able to answer your request,
however, we will inform you as to why it has been deemed as exempt.

Regards,

The Information Governance Team
[3]Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust

References

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2. http://www.foi.nhs.uk/home.html
3. http://www.salisbury.nhs.uk/

Freedom Of Information,

 

 

 

Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust
Salisbury District Hospital
Department of Information Technology
Salisbury
Wiltshire
SP2 8BJ

[1]www.salisbury.nhs.uk

8^th May 2013

Reference No: FOI_1352
Dear Mr Paul Ogden
Regarding your request for information that we received on the 8^th April
2013. We hope this information is satisfactory and meets your intended
request requirements. Should this information not answer your questions,
please contact us using the email address at the bottom of this email, or
you can write to us using the address above.
 
Question No. 1
I am undertaking a study on the numbers of Public Health/Welfare Funerals
undertaken by NHS Trusts. I would appreciate it if you would provide answers
to the following FOI request.

The total number of public health funerals (where the deceased has no
relatives or there is no one else willing to pay) that your Trust has
undertaken for the financial years 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13?
 
Answer No. 1
The total paid by the Trust in this period was 6.
 
 
Question No. 2
The number of public health funerals that your Trust has undertaken by
gender for the past 3 financial years?
 
Answer No. 2
All 6 were male funerals.
 
 
Question No. 3
The number of public health funerals that your Trust has undertaken by age
for the past 3 financial years?
 
Answer No. 3
The ages of the deceased were as follows:

80-90 years - 2
70-80 years - 2
60-70 years - 1
50-60 years - 1
 
 
Question No. 4
Since April 2010, how many cases have there been where family and friends
refuse to finance or make arrangements for their relatives funeral?
 
Answer No. 4
4 cases where family and friends refuse to finance or make arrangements
2 cases where no family could be traced
 
 
Question No. 5
How much have the burials/cremations cost the Trust broken down by year for
the last three financial years? This cost information does not need to
include administrative or staff costs, and before any costs are claimed back
by the local authority from the deceased's estate.
 
Answer No. 5
2010-11 £Nil
2011-12 £Nil
2012-13 £4K
 
 
Question No. 6
How much does your trust typically (average cost) pay for a Public Health
Funeral?
 
Answer No. 6
£900
 
 
Question No. 7
What does your Trust provide at a Public Health Funeral?
 
Answer No. 7
The cost covers Crematorium Fees, Funeral Fees and Doctors Fees.
Fees are based on a simple cremation coffin, transportation from the chapel
of rest to the crematorium and preparation of all required documentation.
 
 
Question No. 8
What relationship do you have with your local council(s) regarding funerals
of this nature?
 
Answer No. 8
None
 
 
Question No. 9
Have you observed any of the following over the last three years?

. Higher numbers or people dying without any income or assets
. Higher numbers of people dying with family or friends unable to contribute
to the costs of a funeral
. Higher numbers of people dying with family or friends unwilling to
contribute to the costs of a funeral
. Higher numbers of people dying with no friends or family
 
Answer No. 9
The numbers are very small and so although last year was the first one for a
while that the Trust has arranged these funerals, it is too early to
identify if this is a trend.
 
 
Yours sincerely

Information Governance Team
If you have any questions regarding this response, please contact us at
[2][Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust request email]
Visit the Freedom of Information website at
[3]http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/free...

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.salisbury.nhs.uk/
2. mailto:[Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust request email]
3. http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/free...