Fulham mortuary’s own ‘decay’ addressed in new contract with specialists
By Ben Lynch, Local Democracy Reporter
Hammersmith and Fulham council has awarded a £700,000 contract as part of a wider investment in a public mortuary after a report raised risks including ‘samples’ potentially deteriorating.
The local authority has revealed in a recent decision notice that it will be directly granting the contract to Mortuary Solutions, a manufacturer and installer of mortuary equipment.
The notice states the contract is to “replace end-of-life equipment and meet the recommendations of the Human Tissue Authority (HTA)” following its visit to Fulham Public Mortuary, in Townmead Road, last year.
The council, which manages the mortuary, is investing a total of £1.68 million in the site – £700,000 of which is to “enhance security on the premises and upgrade equipment.”
In a report published in December 2023, the HTA wrote that while the mortuary had met the majority of its standards during its recent visit, five major and three minor concerns were recorded.
Issues raised in the report included maintenance at the mortuary, such as damage to ceilings, and a lack of swipe card access in certain areas of the site.
One section of it reads: “The fridge unit for storage of specimens pending collection is not connected to the remote alarm system and is in an area where the local alarm would not be heard out-of-hours. This poses a risk of the deterioration of samples should there be an equipment failure.”
The HTA says ‘samples’ refers to those taken during post-mortem procedures, such as organs, not bodies.
On the mortuary’s current condition, Hammersmith and Fulham said it is now fully compliant with the HTA. The requirements to be covered by the contract with Mortuary Solution are listed as including replacing fridges, freezers and equipment. Some additional elements, such as a new air filtration system, are still to come.
The council opted to directly award the contract to Mortuary Solutions rather than run an open tender, due to it being “confident that the supplier can meet the tight timeline set by the HTA.”
A council spokesman said: “Hammersmith and Fulham council is making a major £1.68m investment at Fulham mortuary so we can provide the best service to the deceased in our care and to their families. This will allow us to enhance security on the premises and upgrade equipment.”
The HTA, a regulator and non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care, previously visited the mortuary in 2019. At that time, 11 major and 12 minor shortfalls were found.
Pictured top: Fulham Public Mortuary (Picture: Hammersmith and Fulham council)