Process regarding medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD)

August 30, 2022

If you are unsure of the process regarding completing a medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD) please see medical certificate of cause of death flowchart. Remember: If a doctor hasn’t seen the patient or been the attending doctor in their last illness they cannot sign these documents. It is the absolute legal requirement to find a doctor who has been attending the patient in the last illness – if not, it is a coroner’s referral.

Colleagues are reminded that next of kin/bereaved family members are not required to come to the hospital to collect the MCCD. To obtain an MCCD, the next of kin will need to contact the CARES office the next working day, ideally after 11am. The CARES team will take their contact details and provide information regarding next steps.

The CARES office can be contacted on ext. 4638 (City) and ext. 3464 (Sandwell).

Note: The completed MCCD will be sent over electronically to the register office, who will then contact the next of kin to make an appointment to attend and collect the MCCD.

For more information on the MCCD process please call ext. 3228 or email  k.kandola@nhs.net.