Dead BODY left on display at major NHS hospital after door deliberately left open in heatwave

STAFF at a major NHS hospital left a dead body on display after leaving a door open during a heatwave.

Inspectors from the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) visited Worthing Hospital in West Sussex on July 7 and 8.

They observed that staff “frequently opened” the mortuary office fire exit door during periods of hot weather – providing “unrestricted access to the body store”.

In one such instance, inspectors said a dead body had been clearly visible from a public footpath.

“When the doors are propped open, there is a direct line of sight from a publicly accessible footpath into the body store,” inspectors said.

“Although the footpath is located at the rear of the hospital and is not frequently used, during the inspection the inspection team was able to observe a body being prepared for release from this publicly accessible area.”

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In the wake of the David Fuller scandal, NHS Trusts were asked to ensure there is effective CCTV coverage monitoring access to and from mortuary areas.

Hospitals were also asked to ensure all access points to mortuaries or body stores are controlled by swipe card security access.

Fuller, who was jailed for life in 2021, abused at least 100 dead women and girls in hospital mortuaries in south-east England while working as a maintenance engineer.

An inquiry ruled better management and security could have prevented his crimes.

A University Hospitals Sussex spokesperson told the Health Service Journal (HSJ), which first reported on the HTA report, that the inspection “identified areas where our standards needed to improve”, and that most of the issues had since been fully addressed.

A University Hospitals Sussex spokesperson said: “The dignity, security, privacy and respectful care of people after death are of fundamental importance to us, and we take the findings of the HTA extremely seriously, including the areas identified by the inspection where our standards needed to improve.

“The vast majority of the areas identified in July have already been addressed, including all aspects of processes and procedures where inspectors identified any potential risk of error.

“We have also made immediate improvements to strengthen security and privacy, alongside a number of other changes to the physical environment, and more widely the Trust has already begun a far-reaching programme of improving all mortuary facilities across our hospital sites.

“The Human Tissue Authority has not suspended or revoked the Trust’s licence, and we continue to work closely with the regulator to ensure the highest standards of care, dignity and respect for deceased patients and their families.”