Council Forced to Upgrade Borough Mortuary
Inspection raised major concerns over maintenance and security
Fulham Public Mortuary
August 30, 2024
Hammersmith & Fulham Council has awarded a £700,000 contract as part of a wider investment in a public mortuary after a report raised risks including ‘samples’ potentially deteriorating.
The council revealed in a recent decision notice it will be directly granting the contract to Mortuary Solutions, a manufacturer and installer of mortuary equipment.
The notice states the contract is to “replace end of life equipment and meet the recommendations of the Human Tissue Authority (HTA)” following its visit to Fulham Public Mortuary last year.
A spokesperson for Hammersmith and Fulham Council, which manages the mortuary, said the local authority is investing a total of £1.68 million in the site of which the £700,000 is part, enabling it to “enhance security on the premises and upgrade equipment.”
In a report published in December 2023, the HTA wrote that while the mortuary had met the majority of its standards during its recent visit, five major and three minor concerns were recorded.
Issues raised in the report included maintenance at the mortuary, such as damage to ceilings, and a lack of swipe card access in certain areas of the site.
One section of it reads, “The fridge unit for storage of specimens pending collection is not connected to the remote alarm system and is in an area where the local alarm would not be heard out-of-hours. This poses a risk of the deterioration of samples should there be an equipment failure.”
A spokesperson for the HTA told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) ‘samples’ refers to those taken during post-mortem procedures, such as organs, not bodies.
On the mortuary’s current condition, Hammersmith and Fulham said it is now fully compliant with the HTA. The requirements to be covered by the contract with Mortuary Solution are listed as including replacing fridges, freezers and equipment. Some additional elements, such as a new air filtration system, are still to come.
The council opted to directly award the contract to Mortuary Solutions rather than run an open tender, procure the works via a framework or do nothing due to it being “confident that the supplier can meet the tight timeline set by the HTA.”
A council spokesperson said, “Hammersmith and Fulham Council is making a major £1.68m investment at Fulham mortuary so we can provide the best service to the deceased in our care and to their families. This will allow us to enhance security on the premises and upgrade equipment.”
The HTA, a regulator and non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care, previously visited the mortuary in 2019. At that time, 11 major and 12 minor shortfalls were found.
Ben Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter