When a person dies at home, the general practitioner should be contacted as soon as possible. (In the event that the person did not have a general practitioner or the general practitioner's name is not known, an ambulance should be called instead.)

When a person dies at home, the general practitioner should be contacted as soon as possible. (In the event that the person did not have a general practitioner or the general practitioner's name is not known, an ambulance should be called instead.)

If the death has happened outwith normal working hours, the "on-call" doctor will attend to verify that the death has occurred. He/ she will then notify the deceased's general practitioner of the death in order that he/she can issue a Medical Cause of Death Certificate (Form 11) as required by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Once the Medical Cause of Death Certificate (Form 11) has been issued by the general practitioner, contact the Funeral director to arrange for the laying out of the body. If a funeral director is not being used, it is possible for the family/relatives to complete the laying out of the body, or have this done by a district nurse.

The deceased can remain at home and must be kept as cool as possible. Alternatively, the local mortuary, cemetery or crematorium may have facilities to hold the deceased pending the funeral.

If, for any reason, the general practitioner is unwilling to issue Medical Cause of Death Certificate (Form 11), then a police doctor will be summoned and a decision made to either:

A police report will be written and sent to the Procurator Fiscal.

In the event that the body has been placed in the care of the funeral director and the Procurator Fiscal has no desire to investigate the circumstances of the death beyond the police report, the Medical Cause of Death Certificate (Form 11) will normally be issued by either the deceased's general practitioner or the police station involved.

In the event that the body is in the police mortuary, the Medical Cause of Death Certificate (Form 11) will be released from either the mortuary or the police station after either a "post mortem" examination or a "view and grant" (an investigation of the circumstances of the death without carrying out a post mortem examination) has been carried out and the Procurator Fiscal has decided to release the body.

If it was the wish of the dead person or their nearest relative that the body or organs/tissue should be donated for transplant or medical research purposes, the general practitioner will need to be contacted quickly so that the corneas can be removed. Whilst other organs cannot normally be used when death occurs at home, it is still possible for the body to be donated to medical science.

The Medical Cause of Death Certificate (Form 11) will need to be issued before the death can be formally registered with the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.