Are You a Carer?
If you are please let us know - we may be able to help you
Carers’ Support Centre (www.carersinfo.org.uk) or Tel: 020 8649 9339, option 1 or visit 24 George street, Croydon, CRO 1PB.
Age UK and Contact Neighbourhood Care (the latter’s office can be found on the lower ground floor of Selsdon Library/Sainsbury’s building) are also able to provide support and guidance for Carers.
There is a wealth of information on the NHS website about carers and caring. Below are some links into the site that we hope you will find useful.
Finance and Law
Help claiming benefits, looking after your bank balance and understanding the legal issues of caring.
- Benefits for carers
Directing carers to the benefits that can help them in their caring role
- Benefits for the under-65s
Advice and information on helping the person you look after get the benefits that they are entitled to.
Benefits for the over-65sAdvice and information on financial support for older people with a disability or illness.
- Carer's Assement
How your benefits maybe affected after the death of the person you look after and what happens to their benefits
- Other benefits
Advice for carers and the people they are looking after on claiming a whole host of other benefits unrelated to their disability or caring
IN TIMES OF BEREAVEMENT
If Death Occurs At Home
1. Telephone the doctor who will visit to confirm that death has taken place.
2. Contact a funeral director.
3. Arrange to collect the doctor's Medical Certificate of Death (usually from the surgery).
4. Take this to the Registrars Office, (together with the deceased's Medical Card and Birth Certificate, if available) for the area in which the death took place. Alternatively you can register by declaration at any convenient Registrars Office but certificates will not be available as these will have to be posted to you a few days later.
5. The Registrar will normally issue a Green coloured certificate for you to give to your funeral director who will look after necessary arrangements for the funeral. The Registrar will also issue a white notification certificate for the DSS. They will also enquire as to the number of Certified Copies you require for dealing with the deceased finances (a fee is payable for each copy).
If The Death Occurs In Hospital
1. Contact a funeral director to inform him his services are required.
2. Collect the certificate from the hospital then follow 4 - 5 as above
Note For Cremation
Your funeral director will usually liaise directly with the surgery regarding the additional certification required.
MEDICAL EXAMINER OFFICE
Useful Contacts
Croydon ME Office
Mon-Fri 9am – 5pm
ch-tr.medicalexaminer@nhs.net
0208 401 3000, ext 4847
Croydon Registrar
Mon-Fri 9:30am – 4pm
Register.office@croydon.gov.uk
0208 726 6300
South London Coroner
Mon-Fri 9am – 5pm
admin.coroner@croydon.gov.uk
0208 313 1883 (Mon-Fri 9am-12pm, 1pm-3pm)
Useful Website
Tell Us Once
https://www.gov.uk/after-a-death/organisations-you-need-to-contact-and-tell-us-once
Tell Us Once is a service that lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go. The registrar can explain the Tell Us Once service when you register the death.
They can either:
complete the Tell Us Once service with you
give you a unique reference number so you can use the service yourself online or by phone.
Understanding Probate
https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate
Possible help with funeral cost
https://www.gov.uk/funeral-payments
The Medical Examiner (ME) Medical Examiners are senior medical doctors, who are trained in the legal and clinical elements of death certification processes. They provide independent, balanced scrutiny of deaths.
The role of the medical examiner includes:
Reviewing the medical records.
Liaising with the doctor who treated the patient in their final illness. Agreeing the proposed cause of death with the attending doctor and the overall accuracy of the medical certificate cause of death.
Acting as a medical advice resource for the local coroner.
Ensuring any concerns about the care of the patient are acted on appropriately
How independent will the Medical Examiner be if they are employed by the NHS?
In England, medical examiners are employed by NHS trusts and have a separate reporting line to the Regional Lead Medical Examiner. Those who work in medical roles within the NHS are accustomed to having different roles and different lines of accountability and to making this work, and it is expected that employing organizations will respect this distinction. Appraisal and revalidation processes will support independence.