A hospital has apologized after a family accidentally cremated the wrong body due to a labelling mix-up, an error that was only discovered after the funeral was already over.
The mistake happened at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, where morgue staff passed an incorrectly labelled body to undertakers. By the time the error was noticed, the cremation had already taken place.
That meant one family believed they were saying goodbye to their loved one, while another family was left without the chance to hold a proper funeral at all.
There was a mix-up at the hospital morgue
The story was first reported by the Scottish Sun, which said the family involved was left devastated after learning what had happened.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said the incident was caused by human error and confirmed that the staff involved have been suspended while an investigation is carried out.
Dr Scott Davidson, the health board’s medical director, issued an apology and admitted established procedures had failed. “I would like to offer my sincere apologies to both families affected,” he said. “We have very rigorous processes for the identification and labelling of bodies from arrival in our mortuaries until their release into the care of an undertaker.”
“It is of deep regret that these processes have not been adhered to on this occasion, and that as a result two families have been caused significant additional distress at an already very difficult time,” Davidson added. “We launched an immediate investigation into this incident and will ensure that learning is applied.”
