Families in northern Scotland are being left waiting in anguish for autopsy results on sudden deaths because a staffing crisis means locum doctors must be flown to Aberdeen from other parts of the UK at extortionate costs.
Meanwhile, where there is suspected foul play, bodies are being shipped to other areas of the country because there are no specially trained medics who can perform the exams locally, raising fears about wasted time in potential criminal cases.
Staggering costs
We can reveal the staggering cost to taxpayers, with payments soaring from £9,732 in 2022 to £106,130 last year.
Experts fear that figure could rise to £360,000 next year, with a record-setting number of exams now being carried out and the final part-time staff pathologist who covered many of last year’s exams taking retirement.
Aberdeen has been used as a central hub to provide forensic specialist cover for Grampian and the Highlands and Islands.
Official figures show 600 post-mortems were performed in the city last year overall. The cost of each examination done by a locum is £600.
We can further reveal cases that require a doctor to be flown in are taking longer to process, with waiting times increasing from an average of five days for non-suspicious deaths in Aberdeen to 7.7 days when foul play is suspected.
One insider revealed a doctor is currently being flown in from London once a week and performing the examinations in a “one-er”.
There has been no forensic pathology service provider anywhere in the north since 2023 after two full time staff moved to other parts of Scotland and the last part-time pathologist retired.
North East MSP Douglas Lumsden said training and retention needs urgent attention.
He said: “This is undoubtedly causing long delays for families left in anguish, waiting for answers.”
Who is responsible?
Crown Office officials say they were forced to take the “unprecedented but necessary” step of temporarily managing post-mortem services in Aberdeen to ensure there are no gaps in provision.
However, they insist they are not involved in the recruitment or training of pathologists.
A spokesman said: “COPFS is the client and the recipient of forensic pathology services in Scotland to allow the Procurators Fiscal to discharge their death investigation duties on behalf of the Lord Advocate.”
NHS Grampian refused to answer when we asked who has responsibility for hiring permanent staff.
A spokeswoman said: “We believe our new integrated mortuary building, due to open later this year, will assist in the future recruitment of forensic pathology staff should NHS Grampian enter into a contract to provide such a service.”
“We recognise any delay in the analysis of deaths is extremely distressing for families, at an already difficult time.”
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