Funeral and related services

Tender description

The Council is seeking tenders for the provision of a service to transport bodies from the location of death to designated post mortem facilities that have been licensed in accordance with the requirements of the Human Tissue Act. The Kent County Council have a legal obligation to ensure provision of service for itself and the Medway Unitary Council. There are two requirements from this service: Coroner Removals and Coroner Transfers. The Coroner may decide that a suitable practitioner is required, (normally a Pathologist), to examine the deceased and carry out a post mortem examination to help find the cause of death. In such cases the deceased needs to be transported from where it is lying to a designated mortuary pending further enquiries being made, or to hold a post mortem examination. This movement of the deceased constitutes a ‘Coroner’s Removal’. In those cases where a post mortem is necessary the deceased needs to be transferred from the location of the death to one of five designated post mortem facilities. For Coroners Removals it should be noted that suppliers are required to be at the site of the deceased within 1 hour of receiving a call from the Coroners Officer. Kent County Council have a legal obligation to ensure provision of service for itself and the Medway Unitary Council. The Kent and Medway areas will be divided into 13 Contract Areas for the purpose of service delivery: Dover, Shepway, Ashford, East Swale, Thanet, Canterbury, Medway, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Malling, Sevenoaks, West Swale, Maidstone, Dartford and Gravesham. In some cases, it is necessary to transfer the deceased from a designated mortuary to another designated mortuary either within Kent and Medway area or outside the Kent geographic area to more specialised mortuaries for example to London (child deaths) or Brighton (infectious cases). These are more commonly known as a ‘Coroner Transfers’. Kent County Council have a legal obligation to ensure provision of service for itself and the Medway Unitary Council. The Kent and Medway areas will be divided into 2 Contract Areas identified as East Kent and West Kent for the purpose of service delivery: East Kent: Dover, Shepway, Ashford, East Swale, Thanet, Canterbury. West Kent: Medway, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Malling, Sevenoaks, West Swale, Maidstone, Dartford and Gravesham.