In the event of death

Our team will support the next of kin or executor through all the stages of the procedure.

Next of kin are asked to contact us as soon as possible after the death.

The Bequest Office is open from 8.30am-2.00pm Monday-Friday excluding bank holidays on 01865 272181. A voicemail is available outside of these hours. We will ask the next of kin for details about the deceased, including the name and contact number for their GP.

If the death takes place in a hospital

The hospital staff will arrange for the deceased to be taken to the hospital mortuary.

If the death takes place at home

The next of kin or executor should contact a funeral director of their choice to collect the deceased and take them to their Chapel of Rest.

In either case, the deceased will be kept under refrigerated conditions until we are able to make a decision about acceptance of the donation.

We will then contact the medical professionals involved in the care of the registered donor before death to decide if the donation can be accepted. We have a five-day period following the day of a death in which we are able to accept; this includes bank holidays and weekends. This means that we are less likely to be able to accept during holiday closure periods.

Next of kin need to make an appointment with the Registrar to register the death

The Registrar must be informed of the potential for donation, an next of kin do not need to wait for a final decision about acceptance of the donation to register the death.

If the donation is accepted

We will send the next of kin a number of forms to complete. We will ask them to state the donor’s wishes regarding arrangements for the eventual funeral. We will also ask for the original Certificate for Burial or Cremation (the ‘green form’) they receive from the Registrar when registering the death, and for a copy of the death certificate.

Your family can change their mind regarding their involvement in the funeral at any time while the donor is in our care. We are always glad to hear from the families of our donors if they wish to discuss their options. We understand that their wishes may change when some time has passed after the death. For this reason, we always try to contact them to re-confirm their wishes before arranging a funeral, and we ask families to let us know if their contact details change.

If the donation is declined

In some cases, Oxford is unable to accept a donation but another medical school can accept. If this is the case, the next of kin will be asked whether they would like us to pass the donation on to another institution. There is no obligation to do this. If the donation is passed to another medical school, the cost of transportation to that institution will need to be arranged with a funeral director, in consultation with the medical school, and paid for by the family or from the donor’s estate.

If no medical school can accept, the next of kin will have to proceed with normal funeral arrangements. We regret that we are unable to make any financial contribution towards these private arrangements.