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37
Hospital Management Committee accepted responsibility for
institutional deaths, cases dealt with by the local authority are
very small in comparison.
When the Council became the responsible authority under
the Act, steps were taken to invite funeral furnishers to tender
to a specification drawn up by the Public Health Department.
The tender laid down a specification for the coffin, linings and
fittings and clauses inserted relating to the hearse, bearers and
the general conduct of the funeral.
In every case a senior member of the Public Health Department
attended at the funeral and satisfied himself that the funeral was
carried out according to the contract.
It has been very gratifying to know, from the letters of
appreciation received from relatives of the deceased and from the
clergy and officials at the various cemeteries, that the services
carried out under the Council's contract have been responsible for
raising the standard of the old type " parish funeral ". Now that
the responsibility for institutional public burials has passed to the
Hospital Management Committee, it is to be hoped that no
relaxation of the standard will be permitted.