Andre Willers
26 Apr 2014
Hi,
That is why the Crematorium has a Doctor's Office.
Another doctor has to certify that no mayhem was involved .
The SA rates are R300 per certificate at Crematoria .
Presumably the same rate applies at similar institutions .
A sinecure .
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/jan/10/doctors-cremation-ash-cash
Doctors are paid £73.50 for signing ‘ash cash’ certificates allowing bodies to be cremated. Photograph: Action Press / Rex Features
Doctors are pocketing almost £15m a year from grieving families in return
for filling in simple forms sanctioning the release of the bodies of loved ones for cremation.
"Ash cash" payments, as they are known by medical staff, are considered one of the perks of the job. Tales of junior doctors vying with each other to fill in the forms, for which they receive £73.50 a time, are legion. A junior doctor who blogs under the name "The Daily Rhino" has described ash cash "as the house officer's privilege, it is the fund for Thursday night drinks all over the country".
The unnamed doctor declares: "A colleague working on care of the elderly has effectively gone up a banding due to the vast amounts of ash cash he rakes in."
The form filling – which takes around 10 minutes – is usually carried out during working hours, leading to accusations that doctors are earning extra money while carrying out theirNHS duties. Bereaved families have complained about the practice and politicians and professional associations are now expressing concern.
Requests made under the Freedom of Information Act to hospitals across England show that doctors received £14.7m in payments for filling out cremation forms last year.
The figures reveal that doctors at two hospital trusts – Heart of England in the West Midlands, and University Hospitals of Leicester – shared almost £700,000 in "ash cash".
"This is a well-established practice but you really can't justify taking money off grieving relatives when this involves nothing beyond most doctors' normal working hours," said the Liberal Democrat shadow health secretary, Norman Lamb.
Legally, a deceased person cannot be cremated until the cause of death is known and recorded by two doctors. They must confirm that the deceased had not been fitted with a pacemaker, which could explode during the cremation process.
The fees – £73.50 to each doctor – can be charged for the completion of both forms as the work is not considered part of a doctor's NHS duties. Doctors normally charge the fees to the funeral director, who generally passes on the cost to the family.
The British Medical Association has called for the centralisation of fees paid to doctors for death certification.
"Currently, the bereaved's family pays the fee. We feel this is another layer of bureaucracy at a difficult and emotional time," a BMA spokesman said.
"Given that this fee is applicable to all deaths, the BMA feels that local authorities should pay the fee rather than the bereaved, with the cost being recouped through general taxation."
for filling in simple forms sanctioning the release of the bodies of loved ones for cremation."Ash cash" payments, as they are known by medical staff, are considered one of the perks of the job. Tales of junior doctors vying with each other to fill in the forms, for which they receive £73.50 a time, are legion. A junior doctor who blogs under the name "The Daily Rhino" has described ash cash "as the house officer's privilege, it is the fund for Thursday night drinks all over the country".
The unnamed doctor declares: "A colleague working on care of the elderly has effectively gone up a banding due to the vast amounts of ash cash he rakes in."
The form filling – which takes around 10 minutes – is usually carried out during working hours, leading to accusations that doctors are earning extra money while carrying out theirNHS duties. Bereaved families have complained about the practice
and politicians and professional associations are now expressing concern.Requests
made under the Freedom of Information Act to hospitals across England show that doctors received £14.7m in payments for filling out cremation forms last year.The figures reveal that doctors at two hospital trusts – Heart of England in the West Midlands, and University Hospitals of Leicester – shared almost £700,000 in "ash cash".
"This is a well-established practice
but you really can't justify taking money off grieving relatives when this involves nothing beyond most doctors' normal working hours," said the Liberal Democrat shadow health secretary, Norman Lamb.Legally, a deceased person cannot be cremated until the cause of death is known and recorded by two doctors. They must confirm
that the deceased had not been fitted with a pacemaker, which could explode during the cremation process.The fees – £73.50 to each doctor – can be charged for the completion of both forms as the work is not considered part of a doctor's NHS duties. Doctors normally charge the fees to the funeral director, who generally passes on the cost to the family.
The British Medical Association has called for the centralisation of fees paid to doctors for death certification.
"Currently, the bereaved's family pays the fee. We feel this is another layer of bureaucracy at a difficult and emotional time," a BMA spokesman said.
"Given that this fee is applicable to all deaths, the BMA feels that local authorities should pay the fee rather than the bereaved, with the cost being recouped through general taxation."
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