Death certificate delays leaves Newport family in funeral limbo

Natasha Asghar, the Conservative Senedd member for South Wales East, echoed Mr Crook’s calls for a review.

“Why exactly do we have this backlog?,” Ms Asghar said.

“Whilst I have all the respect and admiration for those people who work in the front line [and] I can understand it’s a very high pressured job, it is essential that the Welsh government carries out a review sooner rather than later to prevent incidents like this from happening ever again.”

The process was taking “up to three times as long” as it used to, according to Rachel Bradburne from the National Association of Funeral Directors.

“We’re looking at two to three weeks from death to contact with the medical examiner,” she said.

“Just to put it in some context, before 9 September it was an average of a week, so just extending that period has some very serious consequences.”

A Welsh government spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise to any families who have experienced delays in receiving death certificates, which may have affected their funeral plans.

“Changes introduced in England and Wales to reform the death certification process are designed to strengthen safeguards for families but these may take some time to fully bed in.

“We are working with the lead medical examiner and the NHS in Wales to understand where the delays are, and how bereaved families can be provided with additional support at such a difficult time.”