REPORT
Agreement to increase the fees charged by doctors for performing duties required under the Cremation (Jersey) Regulations 1961
- Background
Under the Cremation (Jersey) Regulations 1961, an application for cremation by the family (or executor) of a deceased individual must be accompanied by 1) a doctor’s ‘certificate of medical attendant’ and 2) a doctor’s ‘confirmatory medical certificate’. Each certificate for a deceased individual must be completed by a different doctor (defined as a ‘registered medical practitioner’). A copy of both certicates is included as Appendix 1.
To issue a certificate, the doctor must carry out a set of duties - these include, for example, attending the deceased after death and identifying the cause of death. The doctor also undertakes the legal responsibility of ensuring that all right and proper steps and correct procedures have been carried out and that all the requirements of the Cremation (Jersey) Regulations, 1961 have been complied with. An average of 526 cremations take place each year in Jersey and in many instances, the doctors who perform this work are general practitioners (GPs), of whom there are around 100 in the island.
Funeral directors collect the cremation certificate fees, on behalf of the individual doctors who have undertaken the certification work, from the family of the deceased and pass the payments on.
Once both certificates have been completed, these are collated by the funeral director acting on behalf of the family and provided to the Medical Officer of Health. The Medical Officer of Health, having examined the information provided by the doctors, will authorise the cremation to go ahead provided she is satisfied that all the required formalities have been carried out and that there are no grounds for refusing the cremation.
In the United Kingdon, the British Medical Association (BMA) recommends a fee of £82 be paid to a doctor for the duties and responsibilities they perform for cremation certification (http://www.bma.org.uk/support-at-work/pay-fees-allowances/fees/fee-finder/fee-finder-cremation Accessed 22 Jan 2016).
General Practitioners (GPs) in Jersey have highlighted that the current £56.24 cremation medical certificate fee paid to doctors in the island has not kept pace with the BMA recommended amount. The Treasurer of the Primary Care Body (PCB), representing Jersey GPs, has requested that the cremation certification fee in Jersey be brought into line with that paid to UK GPs for equivalent work.
Jersey legislation regarding cremation certificate fees
Whilst it is the funeral director who collects the cremation certification fee from the family/executor of the deceased and passes this onto the doctors who performed the work, the Cremation (Jersey) Law 1953 Article 4 states that it is the Minister for Health and Social Services who may make orders prescribing the maximum fee in respect of the completion of cremation medical certificates.
Having considered the PCBs request, the Minister for Health and Social Services considers it to be a fair and equitable request to bring the medical cremation certificate fee in Jersey into line with that recommended by the British Medical Association in the UK for equivalent work.
- Decision
The HSSD Minister has decided to request the Law Draftsman to draft the Orders necessary to enable the cremation medical certification fee paid to doctors to increase to £82 with effect from 1st May 2016.