Mortuary gives families the wrong dead bodies twice in a year

A Merseyside hospital mortuary released the wrong body to families on two separate occasions last year.

Exclusive figures from the post-mortem regulator have revealed Arrowe Park hospital made the same distressing mistake twice in 2019.

On the first occasion last February, the hospital - which is managed by Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - released the wrong body to the family after a mix-up.

Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral (Danny Lawson/PA Wire)

And in May, the same mistake happened again, with human error blamed after the wrong corpse was released from mortuary fridges.

No other hospital or mortuary on Merseyside had reported any serious incidents in 2019 - although it is possible that some failures may still be under investigation.

The figures were released under freedom of information laws by the Human Tissue Authority - the post-mortem and mortuary regulator in the UK.

A spokesperson for Wirral University Teaching Hospital said: "It is very rare that mistakes of this nature are made, but where they are, it is absolutely unacceptable.

Staff at Arrowe Park hospital described their "panic" after many found out on the news that around 80 Britons returning from China would be quarantined there while they are screened for coronavirus. (Andrew Teebay)

"Both incidents were investigated thoroughly to ensure lessons were learnt and we improved our processes to avoid anything like this happening again.

"Staff working in our mortuary services take great pride in the vital role they play in caring for deceased loved ones and ensuring their families are treated with dignity and respect."

Nationally, there were 64 confirmed "reportable incidents" that took place in hospitals and mortuaries in 2019.

That figure marks a large drop from 142 in the 2017/18 financial year, and 110 in the 2016/17 financial year.

However, it is very likely that some incidents that took place in 2019 are still being investigated - so the figure of 64 will probably rise.

A spokeswoman for the Human Tissue Authority said: "When incidents like these occur in mortuaries, they are upsetting for the families of those involved.

"Although they are rare, when they do happen we work with establishments to ensure that a thorough investigation takes place, and that improvements are made to reduce the risk of similar incidents happening again."