Care of the bereaved when postmortems are required

There are two kinds of postmortem--those undertaken by coroners and those undertaken in hospitals. The rules for consent depend on the kind of postmortem, and families must be offered much fuller information than before the Alder Hey Inquiry. As a result, nurses need to be clear about what is involved in a postmortem so that they can support families in asking the right questions and understanding the consent issues involved.