This petition was submitted during the 2017-2019 parliament
Rejected petition Stop paying doctors extra fees to fill in cremation forms
There are two forms which need to be signed, by law, for the cremation of a decedent to take place: one by the doctor attending the death, and another by a more qualified doctor. These are already part of any doctors' duties and shouldn't have extra fees associated with them
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The "Money to Burn" Campaign:
This practice has been known as "Ash Cash", as £164 is paid for each set of cremation forms . The fees are for checking a patient IS dead and writing it down. Some doctors have been known to attend mortuaries in the hopes of a bulk of 'crems' meaning they can earn a lot of money, in one go, for the weekend. We need to put a stop to these fees as funeral poverty rises. Some people don't have money to burn, and they shouldn't have to pay EXTRA money to burn.
This petition was rejected
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Doctors can charge for these forms because completing them doesn't form part of their NHS duties. You can find out more about this here: https://www.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/fees/why-gps-charge-fees
You could start a new petition calling for these forms to be part of a doctor's NHS duties, so that the costs are met by the NHS and not by individuals.
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