Funeral Industry News

Temporary Changes to the Death Certification Review Service

January 18, 2021 by funeral-industry-news No Comments | Category Uncategorized

The Death Certification Review Service (DCRS), run by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, checks on the accuracy of a sample of Medical Certificates of Cause of Death (MCCDs); also referred to as Form 11.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on clinical services, the review of randomised MCCDs and Interested Person Reviews, were temporarily suspended by Scottish Ministers on 26 March 2020.  The service was reinstated on a reduced basis on the 11 May and resumed business as usual on 31 August.  On 24 November 2020, DCRS revised the type of reviews done without reducing the number carried out.

COVID-19 infections have been rising for some time and clinical services are again reporting an increase in COVID-19 related workload and pressure on front line doctors. This has highlighted the need for a further temporary reduction to the percentage of reviews carried out from 12% to 8% of all eligible MCCD. The DCRS enquiry line for doctors, Interested Person Reviews and applications for repatriations will continue as normal.  The level will be reviewed weekly.

These changes came into effect from 09:00 today (Monday 18 January 2021). 

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