Children’s bodies are ‘transported illegally’
Jan 4 2008 by Audrey Barton, The Journal
CHILDREN’S bodies are being illegally transported across the country due to a crisis in pathology, a Newcastle expert has warned.
A critical shortage of paediatric experts to carry out post-mortem examinations means bodies are being sent miles away from families, he said.
Newcastle consultant perinatal pathologist Dr Chris Wright, said pressure had increased following recommendations, which came after the case of solicitor Sally Clark, who was cleared by the Court of Appeal of murdering her two children, that child specialists should deal with unexpected infant deaths.
“There aren’t enough people to do the job and there are particular problems in the South-West,” Dr Wright said. “Babies who require post-mortems will be going to other parts of the country which is inadequate and, from the point of view of the family, completely unsatisfactory.”
Dr Wright, chairman of the prenatal, perinatal and paediatric pathology specialty advisory committee at the Royal College of Pathologists, said there were currently only about 40 paediatric pathologists – not enough to cope with the workload. That figure also showed no signs of increasing, he said.
Gloucestershire Coroner Alan Crickmore said he was forced to break the law.
He told BMA News: “The lack of paediatric pathology in the South-West is a real problem, and I currently send (infants’ bodies) to Birmingham for post-mortems. In doing this I act unlawfully, because the Coroners Act 1988 only allows the removal of a body to an adjoining district.
“The Ministry of Justice is fully aware of this problem, and we all turn a blind eye to it to get the job done for the benefit of the bereaved.”
The British Medical Association’s central consultants and specialists committee also warned of the problem.
Anne Thorpe, pathology subcommittee chairwoman, said there had been a shortage of paediatric histopathologists for years. Histopathology is the branch of pathology which deals with the tissue diagnosis of disease. “Histopathology is a shortage specialty, so it is difficult to rectify the problem,” she said.
