Important information for SAIF Members in Wales
03/12/2019 // No CommentsSAIF 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
