MEP surname error led to body mix-up
A spelling mistake was among a catalogue of errors that led to the wrong body being cremated during the funeral of West Midlands MEP Philip Bradbourn, a new report reveals.
The 63-year-old, whose constituency included Shropshire, died on December 20 last year at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield following a battle with cancer.
His funeral took place in January at Bushbury Crematorium in Wolverhampton. However, the man who was cremated was Philip Bradburn, who had died at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital on December 24.
Staff at Good Hope's mortuary repeatedly failed to carry out accurate identity checks on the two bodies, the Heart of England NHS Trust said in the new report. Written records were either not completed, incomplete or inaccurately doctored, leading to confusion over two similar sounding surnames, it added.
Bosses at the trust have apologised for the mistake.
The report revealed a series of failings on the part of two funeral directors and Good Hope.
It says that as Good Hope's mortuary was nearing capacity, staff requested four bodies – including Mr Bradbourn's – to be moved to Central England Co-operative Funeralcare in Lichfield.
The names of those to be moved were given over the phone but not followed up with an email listing personal details including names and addresses, the report said.
The funeral home collected Mr Bradbourn's body but sent it back to Good Hope four days later after his family requested to change his burial to a cremation.
On the same day, Mr Bradburn's body – which had been wrongly identified as Mr Bradbourn's – was sent back to the hospital over concerns it had been at the funeral directors for too long.
When it got to Good Hope from the funeral directors, the name 'Bradbourn' had been scrawled onto the accompanying paperwork, over-writing Mr Bradburn's name.
On examining the paperwork, two doctors signed off the cremation for Mr Bradbourn – but the body of Mr Bradburn was released.
Dr Andrew Catto, for the trust, said a "rare and complex set of circumstances" had led up to the blunder.
A spokesman for Central England Co-operative said: "Our priority has been to work closely with all concerned so that we can learn from this unfortunate incident."
A second funeral for Mr Bradbourn took place at Wolverhampton's St Peter's Collegiate Church in February. Mr Bradbourn was a parliamentary candidate for Wolverhampton South East in the 1992 General Election.
