SAIF has received this information from NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership:
Medical Examiner Service for Wales and Cremation Form 5 fees
As you may be aware, a Medical Examiner Service is being created for both England and Wales as part of the reform of the Death Certification Process (Coroner and Justice Act 2009) that will result in changes to the way in which cremation fees are applied and managed.
The intention of the legislative change is to create an independent Medical Examiner Service for England and Wales that will scrutinise the cause of, and circumstances surrounding, all deaths not referred directly to the Coroner that take place in either hospital or community settings. One of the consequences of this legislative change is that the current cremation forms will cease, and the current fees associated with cremation forms 4, 5 and 10 will be replaced by a single Medical Examiner fee. At present, it is expected that the legislative changes will come into force from 1st April 2021, and the level of the fee to be levied has yet to be set by Government.
In the pre-legislative period (up to 1st April 2021) the current cremation forms and fee arrangements will remain, however increasingly the Medical Examiner will become the doctor who signs Cremation Form 5. For those that are signed by the new Medical Examiner, the Form 5 fee will need to be paid to NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership, rather than to an individual doctor as this fee will actually contribute to the funding of the new system.
As Shared Services Partnership will be the organisation that provides the Medical Examiner Service in Wales, it is necessary to ensure that all Funeral Directors are set up on our financial system to enable appropriate invoices to be issued to Funeral Directors.
NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership intend to issue invoices to Funeral Directors on a monthly basis. The invoices will set out the fees due along with payment terms and how payments can be made. I would therefore like to ask if you could send us the following details to be entered into our systems to enable quick and accurate issuing of invoices to your organisation as appropriate:
1. Company Name
2. Company Address, including post code
This can be done by replying with a letterhead that includes these details.
I would like to thank you in advance for your help and cooperation and to extend an offer to provide more information on this service should you wish. You can do this by emailing in the first instance to:
Andrew Evans, National Programme Manager
Swyddfa’r Archwilio Meddygol Arweiniol ar Gyfer Cymru, Office of the Lead Medical Examiner for Wales
Partneriaeth Cydwasanaethau GIG Cymru, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership
5 Charnwood Court, Heol Billingsley, Parc Nantgarw, CF15 7QZ