A bereaved Moray family, who launched a campaign to improve mortuary services in Scotland, have urged local people to take part in a national consultation.
Maryan Whyte was appalled by the condition of the mortuary at Spynie Hospital – which is no longer used – when she attended the facility after the death of her husband Frank in 2016.
She described the site as resembling an “old garage” set in “unkempt” grounds: a state of affairs which compounded “the trauma and pain” of the family while they were dealing with the death of Mr Whyte in a boating accident in Findhorn Bay.
In a bid to make sure no one else was put through a similar and painful ordeal when identifying a loved one’s body, they launched the Whyte Family Trust – Mortuary For Moray to fight for better mortuary provision across Scotland.
So far, the group has been instrumental in services being overhauled all over the country and it now wants more people to air their views on the issue.
A consultation has been launched by Healthcare Improvement Scotland which will form the future standard to which all mortuary providers will have to adhere.
Mrs Whyte urged locals to participate in the public consultation.
She said: “It’s really important we get as many people as possible taking part in the public consultation so we can get a crystal-clear picture of what people have experienced, but almost more crucially what their expectations and needs are when they are faced with having to visit a bereavement suite at the mortuary.
“The consultation is being run by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and is seeking views from all of us with an interest in standards for mortuary services in Scotland and to use the responses to develop those standards.
“We are also pleased that Healthcare Improvement Scotland has facilitated a focus group in Forres allowing our Trust directors to work with 10 people to discuss the draft standards and give their views on their personal bereavement or working life experience of mortuary and bereavement suite services.”
Professor Stewart Fleming, chairman of the development group that published the new draft standards for mortuary services in Scotland, also backed the Whytes.
He said: “I lent my support to the campaign to improve the mortuary services in Scotland back in 2016. It is due to the campaigning of the Whyte Family Trust that these standards are being developed.
“Maryan and the family’s experience of the mortuary facilities, systems and practices was traumatic and they felt severely let down at a time when services should have been supporting them.”
To take part in the consultation click here.