Publications & Resources

AAPT Guidance

AAPT Strategy 2021-25

Working with Deceased Friends and Family 
Property & Valuables
Gratuities
European Working Time Directive
Social Media and Media Engagement
Members Disciplinary Policy (updated June 2022)

Royal College of Pathologists Autopsy Guidelines Series

The College autopsy guidelines are technical documents which have been written as an aid for practising pathologists carrying out a coroners post mortem. As such this guidance may contain some distressing information and is not intended for friends and relatives of the deceased. Detailed information on post mortem for members of the public can be found here and on the Human Tissue Authority website.

Human Tissue Authority (HTA)

Post-mortem Examination Licensing Standards and Guidance (new June 2023)

Release of the wrong body incidents in the post mortem sector

Guidance on traceability procedures of the deceased

Test your knowledge on HTA legislation!

HTA Codes of Practice and Standards

The Sands perinatal post mortem consent package

UK Transition Guidance  

Guidance on contingency storage arrangements for the deceased

Post mortem HTA reportable incidents (HTARIs)

Inspection guidance

Accidental damage to a body incidents in the post-mortem sector (issued June 2023)

HTA Mortuary Security presentation for Designated Individuals

Health and Safety

Managing infection risks when handling the deceased - Guidance for the mortuary, post-mortem room and funeral premises, and during exhumation

Handling the deceased with suspected or confirmed COVID-19

Preventing slips and trips at work - A brief guide

Slips and trips hazard spotting checklist

Personal protective equipment (PPE) at work

Personal protective equipment (PPE) at work regulations from 6 April 2022

Managing risks and risk assessment at work

Workplace exposure limits

EH40/2005 Workplace exposure limits: Containing the list of workplace exposure limits for use with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended)

EH40/2005 Workplace exposure limits Booklet

Risk assessment - A brief guide to controlling risks in the workplace

Fentanyl: safety recommendations for first responders

Death Certificates and Cremation Forms Information

The national medical examiner system

Completing a medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD) (England & Wales)

Cremation Forms (England & Wales)

Death Certification in Scotland (and Abroad)

Funeral directors: draft code of practice

Reporting Deaths to Coroner/Procurator Fiscal

Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019 guidance(England & Wales)

Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service

Reporting Deaths to the Procurator Fiscal

Bereavement Guidance

Support Around Death-NHS Education for Scotland website aims to support healthcare staff who are working with patients, carers and families before, at, and after death. It provides key information on the clinical, legislative, and practical issues involved.

What to do when someone dies: step by step (UKGOV advice)

Cruse Bereavement journal

Death abroad - bereavement packs when someone dies abroad: advice by country - Find out about local legal procedures, burials and cremations, and about returning the body to the UK

Grief after bereavement or loss (NHS guidance)

What to do after a death in Scotland - practical advice for times of bereavement (Scottish Government advice)

Death and end of life (Scottish Government)

A road less lonely: Moving forward with public health approaches to death, dying and bereavement in Scotland

Bereavement (Welsh specific advice)

NHS Wales Bereavement support links

New bereavement support website for Northern Ireland

Support after someone may have died by suicide Help is at Hand – Booklet supported by Public Health England and National Suicide Prevention Alliance 

Supporting LGBT+ people around bereavement (Scotland)

LGBTQ Queer Funeral Guide from The Good Grief Trust

Bereavement: A guide for Transsexual, Transgender people and their loved ones

Useful Links & Documents

Perinatal post-mortem investigation of fetal and neonatal deaths (England, Scotland and Wales)

Health Building Note 16-01: Facilities for mortuaries, including body stores and post-mortem services (new May 2023)

The Control and Avoidance of Contamination in Scene Examination involving DNA Evidence Recovery (2020)

Forensic Science Regulator Code of Practice (March 2023)

Codes of Practice and Conduct For Forensic Science Providers and Practitioners in the Criminal Justice System

Standards for Mortuary Services (Scotland August 2022)

Pathology Portal on NHS Learning Hub

Code of practice for medical autopsies: a minimum standard position paper for pathology departments performing medical (hospital) autopsies in adults

National guidelines on learning from deaths (March 2017 National Quality Board)

Centre for Death & Society

NHS Leadership Academy

Guidance for NHS trusts on working with bereaved families and carers (2018 National Quality Board)

Care and Respect in Death Good Practice Guidance for NHS Mortuary Staff (The National Archives)

NHS England – End of Life care Website

Palliative and End of Life Care Statutory Guidance for Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) (September 2022)

Actions for End of life care 2014-16

A road less lonely- Moving forward with public health approaches to death, dying and bereavement in Scotland

Disaster victim identification operations with fragmented, burnt, or commingled remains: experience-based recommendations (Forensic Sciences Research Journal Article)

Osteology Plain Models (University of Dundee CAHID)

National Medical Examiner’s Good Practice Series No. 6 Medical examiners and child deaths

Dying well at home: commissioning quality end-of-life care (Kings Fund Report February 2023)

Care after death guidance (Hospice UK)

Rehab 4 Addiction

Other organisations

Centre for Death & Society

Dying Matters