Hospital investigates mixup of bodies at cremation of Midlands MEP
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Version 0 of 1. A hospital is carrying out an investigation after releasing the wrong body for cremation at the funeral of West Midlands MEP Philip Bradbourn. Bradbourn, 63, died in December from bowel cancer at Good Hope hospital in Sutton Coldfield. But another man’s body was cremated at the Tory politician’s funeral at Wolverhampton’s Bushbury crematorium on 16 January - that of Philip Bradburn. He had died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham before Christmas. The hospital is run by the Heart of England foundation trust. “The trust can confirm that it is carrying out a full investigation into a recent incident involving two people with similar names, as a result of which the wrong deceased patient was cremated. Services have been held for both,” said the hospital. Dr Andrew Catto, executive medical director at the trust, said: “This is an incredibly distressing situation and we are very sorry that this has happened … This is a rare incident and we are offering support to those close to the deceased.” He added: “This occurred in spite of the fact that mortuary procedures conform to nationally defined standards and are subject to periodic audit.” A second funeral took place last month, reported the Express & Star, the local paper that broke the story about the mixup. A memorial service was held for Bradbourn on Monday at St Peter’s Collegiate church in Wolverhampton. It was attended by senior Tory politicians including the communities secretary, Eric Pickles, and the transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin. A spokesman for Wolverhampton city council said: “This is clearly a very distressing situation for the family of Mr Bradbourn and our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with them at this very difficult time. It appears that there was a serious error at the hospital and we are aware that the Heart of England foundation trust is now carrying out a full investigation into the matter.” David Cameron led last year’s tributes to Bradbourn, praising the MEP’s dedication to public service and describing him as a respected politician. Bradbourn, who was awarded the OBE in 1994, had been a town planning officer in local government for more than 20 years before becoming political adviser to the Conservative group on the Wolverhampton city council. He became an MEP in 1999 and was diagnosed with bowel cancer shortly after being re-elected to the European parliament in May last year. |