Aintree Broadgreen Royal Liverpool

Please accept our sincere condolences if you are visiting this site following the loss of a relative or friend.

Our Bereavement Service offers an individualised, culturally sensitive service across all of our hospitals. We provide comprehensive information, guidance and support for bereaved relatives and friends following the death of a patient.

Here to help

Here at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust we provide specialist bereavement care and support to the bereaved from our team of varied professionals within the Care After Death Division. These include Mortuary, Bereavement, Medical Examiner and SWAN services.

Some examples of practical support we provide includes:

  • Working with our doctors to ensure the prompt completion of all the necessary legal documentation following a death
  • Explaining to the bereaved all of the next steps and guiding them through the formalities
  • Advice on how to find a funeral director or arrange a funeral without a funeral director – plus much more. 

Some examples of emotional support we provide includes:

  • Support during visits with the deceased
  • Enabling memory making by assisting with creating mementos
  • Follow-up calls to the bereaved, home visits - plus much more. 

We also have a team of dedicated SWAN Bereavement Clinical Nurse Specialists available seven days a week to support the bereaved, in partnership with our central Bereavement Services colleagues. 

We work very closely with HM Coroner, Liverpool Registrar of Deaths and local funeral directors, as well as other stakeholders to ensure the bereaved receive the highest standard of support. 

Our services are available across all of our hospital sites (Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital and Aintree University Hospitals) and we also support other organisations across the Liverpool city region.  

Royal Liverpool University Hospital 

Bereavement Services: 0151 706 3805 / 3804
Bereavement.RLUH@liverpoolft.nhs.uk 

Mortuary Services: 0151 706 3800 / 3809
Mortuary@liverpoolft.nhs.uk 

Medical Examiner Service: 0151 706 3803 / 3812 
MEService@liverpoolft.nhs.uk 

Medical Examiner Service out-of-hours emergency line: 0800 321 3135

SWAN Team: 0151 706 3000 
SWAN@liverpoolft.nhs.uk 
Alternatively, you can also page our SWAN Bereavement Clinical Nurse Specialists, via the Operator, by calling: 0151 706 2000. 

Aintree University Hospital 

Bereavement Services: 0151 529 2855 / 6060
Bereavement.AUH@liverpoolft.nhs.uk 

Mortuary Services: 0151 529 3482
Mortuary@liverpoolft.nhs.uk 

Medical Examiner Service: 0151 529 2137 
MEService@liverpoolft.nhs.uk 

Medical Examiner Service out-of-hours emergency line: 0800 321 3135

SWAN Team: 0151 706 3000 
SWAN@liverpoolft.nhs.uk 

Alternatively, you can also page our SWAN Bereavement Clinical Nurse Specialists, via the Operator, by calling: 0151 525 5980. 

Broadgreen Hospital

Bereavement Services: 0151 282 6264
Bereavement.Services@liverpoolft.nhs.uk 

Mortuary Services: 0151 706 3800 / 3809
Mortuary@liverpoolft.nhs.uk 

Medical Examiner Service: 0151 706 3803 / 3812 
MEService@liverpoolft.nhs.uk 

Medical Examiner Service out-of-hours emergency line: 0800 321 3135

SWAN Team: 0151 706 3000 
SWAN@liverpoolft.nhs.uk 

Alternatively, you can also page our SWAN Bereavement Clinical Nurse Specialists, via the Operator, by calling: 0151 706 2000. 

Operating hours for our Bereavement, Mortuary & Medical Examiner Services are; 
Monday to Friday: 9am–4pm

Operating hours for our SWAN Team are;
Monday to Sunday (including bank holidays) – 8am–7pm 

We apologise if you connect to our answerphone, as our phone line can be very busy at times. It is essential that you leave a contact name, number and who your enquiry is regarding. Please be assured we will respond to your message as soon as we are available to do so.

More information

Our mortuary services care for deceased patients from wards across all of our hospitals. 

We also care for the deceased patients from other hospital trusts for example, Liverpool Women’s Hospital, Broadoak Unit (situated at Broadgreen Hospital) and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, Walton Centre for Neurology, Woodland’s Hospice and Clatterbridge Cancer Centre (Liverpool).

Liverpool University Hospitals has mortuaries at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Aintree University Hospital and Broadgreen University Hospital. 

Our coronial jurisdictions include: Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, Cumbria, Southport, Blackpool, Sefton/Knowsley, Whiston and Wirral.

Our Mortuary Team work closely with colleagues in Bereavement Services, they will also liaise closely with colleagues in the funeral sector regarding the care of deceased patients.

Here at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust the Medical Examiner Service reviews all deaths which occur in hospital. This is a system that has been rolled out nationally. 

Medical Examiners are senior medical doctors, who are trained in the legal and clinical elements of death certification processes. Their role includes: 

  • Reviewing the medical records and any supporting diagnostic information
  • Liaising with the doctor who treated the patient in their final illness
  • Agreeing the proposed cause of death and the overall accuracy of the medical certificate cause of death 
  • Acting as a medical advice resource for the local coroner.

The role of the Medical Examiner Officers (MEO) includes:

  • MEOs will be involved in all stages of the ME service, from talking to attending doctors, and advising on the wording of death certificates. 
  • Medical Examiner Officers can explain what is written on the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death and why. They will also discuss the Medical Examiner’s review and ask if you have any questions or concerns about the care the person received before their death.

After the Medical Examiner scrutiny has been satisfactorily completed (review of the records, speaking with the attending doctor and speaking with the bereaved family member) the Medical Examiner will authorise the release of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD).

Where appropriate, there will be the provision to issue a MCCD promptly in circumstances where this is required for religious or other reasons. However, the same level of scrutiny by the Medical Examiner’s office is still required to occur for every death.

For online information, advice and details of external support available to the bereaved, please visit the Good Grief Trust website.

  • Arranging cremation papers and collecting fees on behalf of medical staff
  • Advice and information regarding funeral arrangements
  • Emotional support to the bereaved
  • Liaising with HM Coroner and their staff, Police, Social Services and General Practitioners – just to name a few
  • Providing advice regarding help from the Social Fund
  • Explaining probate and legalities following death
  • Tracing next of kin where no next of kin is recorded in the medical records
  • Arranging a funeral where no next of kin has been found
  • Seeking consent for hospital post mortem, tissue donation or other projects at the request of medical staff
  • Providing training and information on bereavement related issues to other staff members
  • Bereavement support is available from the time of death up until the bereaved no longer require that support.