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Mother's 4-Month Wait for Son's Burial Ends
18 Oct
Summary
- A mother waited over four months to bury her son due to post-mortem test delays.
- The delays caused significant emotional distress, prolonging the grieving process.
- Hospital cited resourcing issues for the extensive post-mortem examination delays.
A grieving mother has finally been able to plan her son's funeral after a distressing four-month wait. Phil Malone died on June 8th at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham after suffering a bleed on the brain. His mother, Lyn Malone, was initially informed that post-mortem tests on his brain would take 10 weeks.
However, 16 weeks passed before the tests were completed, significantly prolonging Lyn's grief and preventing her from burying her son. She expressed the immense toll the delay took, stating it felt like losing him all over again and delayed her final goodbye.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the QMC, apologized for the delays, attributing them to brief resourcing issues in a specific area of post-mortem examinations. The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Coroner's Service confirmed they were informed on June 29th about the need for specialist examination, which added to the delay.
The coroner's office stated that pathology services nationally are under immense pressure. Despite the difficulties, Lyn Malone has now received the completed tests and has been able to proceed with funeral arrangements, seeking peace for herself and her son.
