District and City Councils (Cemetery Services)

Care provided after death:

Cemeteries are respected and protected areas, managed by churches or councils, where people are buried. Cemetry services include:

  • Facilitation of burials after registration of death
  • Allocation of land for burial, the digging and filling of graves, the maintenance of the grounds and the maintenance of burial registers
  • Provision of burial records for people researching their family history.
  • Certain cemeteries have dedicated areas used for hospital burial, especially for deaths/miscarriages in maternity units.
  • In Northern Ireland the majority of people still choose burial over cremation, though numbers of cremations are increasing.  The tradition is that, if possible, burial takes place within 3-4 days of death.

Works alongside:

  • Registrar
  • Funeral director
  • Hospital mortuary and maternity services

The Standard of Bereavement Care is enhanced when:

  • Timely registration of death takes place
  • Documentation is completed accurately
  • Bereaved families are given accurate information about the services provided (especially the nature of hospital burials of babies, and the constraints of a communal burial plot)

Standards and Guidelines:

Code of Practice The Federation of Burial Cremation Authorities

Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM) Codes of Practice and Charter for the Bereaved www.iccm-uk.com
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