Bereavement Services E-Conference 17Nov22
Bereavement Services E-Conference
When: 17th November 2022 | 10:30am – 11:30am
Location: Online via Livestorm
Cost: FREE
For our final Bereavement Services E-Conference of 2022, we have invited a collection of excellent speakers, providing talks relevant to those working in and in association with bereavement services. The aim of this event is to enhance the confidence of bereavement staff in effectively signposting the bereaved to support agencies, and to share best practice in bereavement services in a variety of contexts.
Presentations with include:
- Detail into the work carried out by the Care Workers Charity, including a COVID overview and the situation facing care workers and health professional, considering the cost of living crisis,
- Discussing the umbrella term of ‘Dementia’ and the grief and bereavement associated, and how health care professionals can more effectively handle and sign-post those impacted,
- A look into the difficulties of end-of-life admin, how Settld can simplify this process for the bereaved and are working towards better bereavement care in the UK,
- Exploring emotional resilience, recognising and responding to compassion fatigue and how to look after ourselves better,
- Discussing into cyber security and actions that Finders International are taking to keep your data safe and secure.
This event is on-demand, so once the event ends, you can re-watch the event at a time that best suits you!
Our Speakers:
SHARON TOLMAN
Consultant Admiral Nurse
Dementia UK
ROSIE MOCKETT
Policy, Research and Projects Officer
Care Workers Charity
JAYNE ELLIS
Founder & CEO
EF Training
VICKY WILSON
Co-Founder & CEO
Settld.
ALI SAWAB
IT & Cyber Security Manager
Finders International
Event Organiser:
ELAINE RIDLEY
Public Sector Development Manager
Finders International
Elaine Ridley is our Public Sector Development Manager for Hospitals and Coroners, having extensive experience of working for and managing public services. Formerly employed by a local authority as a Coroner’s Service Manager, she has 14 years’ experience in this high-intensity field in England and Northern Ireland. While working in Ireland, she also trained and subsequently volunteered with Cruse Bereavement Care,
providing bereavement support for six years.
Prior to this post, Elaine was the Family Liaison in a large physical and mental health NHS Foundation Trust. Providing a consistently high standard of support to families, carers and service users through Serious Incident or Complaint Investigations, she also developed training and presented locally and nationally on the importance of engaging effectively with families.
If you have attended this event, we would love your feedback. Please click here to leave us some feedback. For every feedback form filled, we will donate £1 to our chosen charity – Keep Britain Tidy. Read more about our chosen charity here.
If you have any further questions regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact us at: [email protected].
Long delays between deaths and funerals
UK funeral directors are warning of long delays between deaths and funerals, thanks to pressure on the system, an article in the Daily Telegraph set out.
Speaking to reporter Antonia Hoyle, Jackie Sewell related how she had faced a month-long wait to get the death certificate she needed in order for the funeral to go ahead. Her father, Kenneth, died at 93 of dementia in Hampshire.
Without the death certificate, the funeral home could not embalm his body, which as to go into cold storage. Jackie described the process of waiting as unfair on both the living and the person who had passed away.
Average time 22 days
In years gone by, the typical wait for a loved one dying to being buried or cremated was between one and two weeks, but the average time is now 22 days. Deborah Smith of the National Association of Funeral Directors, told the Telegraph that in some parts of he UK, the wait is much longer, with some families being forced to wait five weeks or more.
Excessive deaths are being blamed for the pressure on the system. The Office for National Statistics revealed that hundreds more people are dying every week in England and Wales, with excess deaths caused in part by Covid and illnesses that might have gone unchecked or untreated during the pandemic. The recent heatwave also appears to have caused a spike in death rates.
Another issue is staff shortages, which have led to delays in bodies being released by coroners and deaths being registered by the authorities. The 2020 Coronavirus Act allowed the digital transmission of forms and for people to register a death without needed to attend the office in person to pick up a paper copy of the certificate. When the Act expired in March this year, the old system returned, contributing to the delays.
‘Cruel’ system
Ms Smith said she thought it “cruel” that people were being forced to navigate a paper-based appointment system that had been designed more than a century ago, and that delays i8n holding funerals were very distressing for families.
In England and Wales, unless a coroner is involved, appointments should be made within five days to register a death. A doctor’s certificate that states the cause of death is needed.
When Jackie Sewell’s father died, the care home contacted Co-op funeral services, whose representative picked up the paperwork from her father’s GP. However, when the funeral care representative tried to contact the local register offices, she found that the first available appointment was a month later.
Government cuts and pandemic pressure
A spokesperson from Hampshire County Council told the Telegraph that registration services across the country had “experienced unprecedented demand” in the first three months of 2022, which followed on from two years of pressure caused by the pandemic.
An additional factor was the higher number of people wishing to get married, following on from the lifting of Covid restrictions on weddings, the move back to in-person appointments and high levels of staff sickness because of Covid 19.
There is currently a shortage of burial plots in England too, due to the rising population. A study in 2013 found that a quarter of England’s councils expect the cemeteries they manage to be full by 2023. Cemeteries in Manchester and the Lambeth area of London were mentioned in the article as having particularly high demand for plots.
Government budget cuts and staff shortages were blamed.
The PHFIS is intended as a guide for local authorities and hospitals who deal with public health funerals. If you would like to learn more about the PHFIS or require assistance, you can visit our website here. Alternatively, you can telephone: +44(0) 20 7490 4935 or email: [email protected]
Free conferences for public sector workers
Finders International has a number of conferences coming up aimed at those who work in the public sector – a mix of hybrid and online events for maximum flexibility.
The first event takes place on 8 September at London’s Park Plaza Hotel – the Public Health Funerals Information Service (PHFIS), which takes the form of a hybrid event. The day will welcome delegates from all fields who have an interest in or who provide or who have experienced a funeral provided under statutory by a public authority.
The PHFIS is also proud to announce that it is sponsoring new research carried out by one of the country’s leading experts in the field, Dr Glenys Caswell, an independent social researcher and death studies scholar. The research will explore the perspectives of those who undertake and participate in PHA funerals.
Statutory obligations
David Lockwood, Finders International’s senior business development manager, will also be speaking as he is extensive experience in the complexities of dealing with the statutory obligation of providing funerals under the Public Health Act.
This event is FREE to attend, with places allocated on a first come, first served basis and you can sign up here for both attendance in person and online. It starts at 9.30am and finishes at 3.30pm.
Empty Homes – 2 events London & Manchester
The Community Action on Empty Homes conference takes place on 14 September at the Friends House, Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ – a half day conference from 10.00am to 1.30pm is aimed at everyone who works in housing in the public sector to look at what can be done to ensure more homes are returned to the housing market. Action on Empty Homes will also be launching their Community Action on Empty Homes Toolkit. Again, the event is free, and you can register here to attend.
Finders are also hosting the Empty Homes Classroom Session on 29 September, aimed at people in the north-west of England who work in association with empty properties. Specialist solicitors, Fiona Anthony and Chris Burgess from NP Law (Norfolk County Council) will be delivering training on legal solutions for empty properties.
The training course will cover compulsory purchase orders and enforced sales, explain the circumstances in which these solutions might be used and help attendees understand the processes involved in pursuing these routes.
The event takes place on 29 September 2022 from 9:30am – 3:30pm at the Etc. Venues, 11 Portland St, Manchester, M1 3HU. Register here to attend.
Bereavement e-Conference
And finally, Finders International ran its first Bereavement E-Conference of 2022 on 21 July. The speakers provided talks relevant to those working in and in association with bereavement services, including highlighting signposting resources for the bereaved and reinforcing the need for self-care in these extremely demanding roles.
The next Bereavement E-Conference will take place on 3 November at 10.30am and will again cover a broad range of topics aimed at sharing best practice in bereavement services. Registration for this event will be opening soon with updates available via our website: https://www.findersinternational.co.uk/about/events-training-presentations/. Alternatively, contact us via [email protected] to register early interest or to forward any questions.
Public Health Act Funerals Conference
Public Health Act Funerals Conference
When: 8th September 2022 | 10:00am – 3:30pm
Where: Park Plaza Victoria London, 239 Vauxhall Bridge Rd, Pimlico, London, SW1V 1EQ
Cost: FREE
The Public Health Funerals Information Service is proud to announce its first ever hybrid event, to be held on September 8th 2022 at London’s Park Plaza Hotel, this unique event will welcome delegates from all fields who have an interest in, provide and have experienced a funeral provided under statutory legislation by a public authority.
PHFIS is also proud to announce that we will be sponsoring new research carried out by one of the Country’s leading experts in the field, Dr Glenys Caswell. The research will be exploring the perspectives of those who undertake and participate in PHA funerals.
With more speakers just announced, discussing topics relevant to the field, this should be an essential event for those in the field to attend.
This event is FREE to attend, with places allocated on a first come, first served basis. Sign-up now to secure your place and begin receiving regular updates on the event.
This event is FREE to attend, with places allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Sign-up now to secure your place and begin receiving regular updates on the event.
Our Speakers:
GLENYS CASWELL
Independent social researcher & death studies scholar
University of Nottingham
Glenys Caswell is an independent death studies scholar and associate of the University of Nottingham, UK. She is a sociologist by training and her area of research interest focuses on the social management of dying and death. She has research and published on aspects of dying alone, time of death and Scottish funerals.
Read more about Glenys HERE
MAYA MAYBLIN
Senior Lecturer, School of Social and Political Science
University of Edinburgh
Alongside teaching and supervising at the university, Maya has published books, chapters and articles on topics ranging from politics, theology, and popular Catholicism, to gender, kinship, ritual, and child labour.
Maya has previous experience speaking, specifically for our past 2021 PHA Funerals Conference.
NAZIA NAWAZ
Partner – Inheritance, Trusts and Estate Disputes
Ramsdens Solicitors
Nazia specialises in all types of inheritance disputes and contentious probate matters as well as land and farming disputes, including will validity claims, removal of executors and trustees and financial abuse claims.
Nazia’s clients include disappointed beneficiaries, executors, trustees, Farmers and land owners. She has successfully represented numerous clients in financial provision claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975 including claims brought by surviving cohabitees, spouses, children or those who were otherwise maintained by the deceased who have been left insufficient provision under a will or on intestacy.
DAVID LOCKWOOD
Senior Business Development Manager
Finders International
Dave is a former Deputy Decision Maker appointed by the Court of Protection in England and Wales. Dave’s experience comes from working in four diverse local authorities across London and the South East, dealing with varied services, ongoing legislation changes and increased workloads with decreasing resources; managing expectations from both the public and internal colleagues.
Not only does Dave have experience of acting as a Deputy under the Court of Protection, he is also well versed in the complexities of dealing with the statutory obligation of providing funerals under the Public Health Act.
LINDESAY MACE
Down to Earth Service Manager
Quaker Social Action
Lindesay has worked across different sectors including homelessness, refugee and asylum support. Her work has almost always involved supporting people through times of crisis, both emotionally and practically.
As well as providing vital support to bereaved clients she also shares the Down to Earth team’s knowledge by delivering training courses, workshops and presentations to professionals and carers, including delivering funeral support training.
Location:
Park Plaza Victoria London
239 Vauxhall Bridge Rd,
Pimlico,
London
SW1V 1EQ
This event will be hosted within the Edward Lobby
3 min walk from Victoria Station (Victoria, District & Circle Lines) and 10 min walk from Pimlico Station (Victoria Line).
Event Organiser:
DAVID LOCKWOOD
Senior Business Development Manager
Finders International
If you have attended this event, we would love your feedback. Please click here to leave us some feedback. For every feedback form filled, we will donate £1 to our chosen charity – Keep Britain Tidy. Read more about our chosen charity here.
If you have any further questions regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact us at: [email protected].
Bereavement Services E-Conference
Bereavement Services E-Conference
When: 21st July 2022 | 10:30am – 11:30am
Location: Online via GoToWebinar
Cost: FREE
For our first Bereavement Services E-Conference of 2022, we have invited a collection of excellent speakers, providing talks relevant to those working in and in association with bereavement services.
The aim of this event is to enhance the confidence of bereavement staff in effectively signposting the bereaved to support agencies, and to share best practice in bereavement services in a variety of contexts. Presentations with include:
- How to improve outcomes for families affected by serious harm and traumatic bereavements in health and social care services,
- Support for those struggling in bereavement services and signposting effectively in their role,
- Understanding patient and public engagement with the concept of dying and death and how bereavement staff could also benefit,
- Mental health awareness and support,
- How a probate genealogy firm can assist staff working in Bereavement services.
Our Speakers:
ROSI REED
Training Coordinator
Making Families Count
ANDY BAINES-VOSPER
Training Delivery Manager
Samaritans
NICOLE DURMAN, RN
Registered Nurse
Death Café
JAKE MILLS
Founder & CEO
Chasing the Stigma
Event Organiser:
ELAINE RIDLEY
Public Sector Development Manager
Finders International
If you have attended this event, we would love your feedback. Please click here to leave us some feedback. For every feedback form filled, we will donate £1 to our chosen charity – Keep Britain Tidy. Read more about our chosen charity here.
If you have any further questions regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact us at: [email protected].
Conservative MP warns against ‘watered down’ funeral plan industry regulation
The funeral industry must not prey on fear, Conservative MP Lucy Allan told MPs during a recent parliamentary speech.
The Yorkshire Post published an excerpt of the speech by the MP who represents Telford in Shropshire and who sits on the Health and Social Care Committee. Ms Allan drew attention to predatory practices by certain elements of the funeral plan industry, who often target older people who might be worried about the costs of funerals.
She told parliament that the funeral plan industry has grown extensively in recent years, with some 1.6 million people now holding a funeral plan and some 218,000 taking out a new plan last year and more than £4 billion in funds under management held in those plans.
Good providers out there
The industry remains, however, unregulated. Ms Allan said that the Funeral Planning Authority claimed that it provides oversight, but this was still not regulation. It was worth remembering, she added that there were good providers such as Dignity and Co-op Funeralcare and that they would be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority by 29 July.
However, other providers have still not applied to be regulated and others have not been accepted for regulation. Concerns had been raised about where that would leave people who held plans with those providers.
She warned that the industry had a record of using high-pressure sales techniques, such as cold calling and having reps sit in people’s homes until they had signed on the dotted line.
‘Extraordinary’ fee arrangements
There were also extraordinary fee arrangements where 25 percent of the plan could be taken as a commission and the use of intermediaries, such as will writers who then sold funeral plans when all someone wanted was a will.
A lack of transparency about how the money was invested was also a concern and those providing plans often played on people’s fears, telling them that a funeral plan was essential when people could simply save the money themselves and make it clear to their relatives what they wanted to happen when they die.
Ms Allan said she was worried that industry lobbyists were seeking to water down the FCA regulation proposals. If the proposals were watered down, it would become easier for companies to be regulated and that might not give consumers the level of protection needed.
The Public Health Funerals Information Service (PHFIS) is a free resource for those dealing with public health act funerals. Click through to our homepage here: www.Publichealthfunerals.org to find out more about our news, resources and events.
Newspaper investigation reveals rise in public health funerals
The Mirror newspaper has revealed massive rises in the number of people requiring a public health funeral in 2020, often referred to as a pauper’s funeral.
A public health funeral is a basic, no-frills service that is paid for by the local authority in cases where someone dies in poverty and their next of kin cannot be found or don’t come forward.
The paper’s Freedom of Information investigation compare data from 362 out of 371 councils in Britain and found there were 5,875 public health funerals last year, with the true total likely to be not far off 6,000 – or one in 100 deaths.
Twenty-six percent increase
The figures mark a 26 percent increase on 2019. The increase is thought to be due to several factors – rising funeral costs, the increase in the numbers of people living and dying alone, and poverty.
Among those who ended up having a public health funeral in 2020 were “Baby Ruja”, who died on the same day she was born in Doncaster and whose body was cremated four months later. The oldest people were 101-year-old Frances Oldridge from Southampton and 103-year-old Maximo Andreo in North London.
Christina Martin who works for Wealden Council’s environmental health department in East Sussex organised and attended 11 public health funerals last year, up from four the previous year. She does not think the pandemic is responsible for most of the increase in numbers.
Funding a big issue
While she attended a couple of Covid funerals, she told The Mirror, the overall contributor seemed to be the ageing population and people not having a traditional family set up. Funding was another big issue, as basic funerals can cost as much as £4,000.
The Department for Work and Pensions has means-tested support for some cases, such as the death of a child or if a family claims certain benefits.
Christina explained that public health funeral were needed for bodies that hadn’t been dealt with. Her job was to go in after the police and ambulance services have left and do a more thorough search, looking for any documentation in houses that might help her find relatives. She also looks for valuables so that they can be added to a person’s estate and used to offset the funeral costs.
Council responsibility
Wealden Council was able to reclaim its costs in full from the deceased’s estate in seven out of last year’s 11 cases. Public health funerals are the responsibility of the council where the person dies.
Danny Curran, Finders International’s CEO and founder, said: “Thanks to our experience searching for next of kin when people die intestate, we can find the relatives of almost anyone very quickly.
“Local authorities and NHS trusts can apply to our funeral fund for a subsidy payment that can go towards the cost of public health funerals. These will be cases where there genuinely are no known next of kin (rather than next of kin simply refusing to pay) and Finders will carry out research to confirm this. For more information or to apply for a subsidy, simply contact us at [email protected] or call Freephone 0800 085 8796.”
The Public Health Funerals Information Service (PHFIS) is a free resource for those dealing with Public Health Act Funerals. Click through to our homepage here: www.Publichealthfunerals.org to find out more about our news, resources and events.
Bereavement Services E-Conference | 7th October 2021 | 10:30am
Bereavement Services E-Conference
7th October 2021 | 10:30am
Cost: FREE
Estimated length of event: 1hr 15 minutes
Introducing a new event category, in which the main aim is to provide up-to-date information on topics which will enable staff to: quickly and effectively signpost bereaved families to support networks; to highlight the work of relevant external agencies; to appreciate and promote the importance of professional Bereavement Services; and to recognise the personal impact of this work and prioritise self-care.
This particular event focuses on the wellbeing of bereaved families and bereavement professionals through information, and by raising awareness of the support available for both. Our speakers will be further informing on signposting resources, bereavement support and the concept of ‘moral injury’ in care provision during the pandemic.
Register now to receive updates on the event.
If you have any further questions regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact the event organisers at: [email protected].
Our Speakers:
JANE WOODWARD
Executive Director
At a Loss
DR SUZANNE SHALE
Independent Ethics Consultant, Member of General Medical Council, NHS NED
Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust & Clearer Thinking
BETHAN HODGES
Senior Partnerships, Policy and Projects Coordinator
Missing People
LISA WRIGHT
Trauma Trainer and Advisor
Assist Trauma Care
KATIE WATSON
Public Sector Manager
Finders International
Event Organiser:
ELAINE RIDLEY
Public Sector Business Development Manager
Finders International
For those with hearing impairments, we can provide a subtitled version of the event. We can also provide translated subtitles in your chosen language. To request this, please contact us at: [email protected]
If you have watched this event, we would love your feedback. Please click here to leave us some feedback. For every feedback form filled, we will donate £1 to our chosen charities – Age UK & Young Minds.
PHFIS Public Health Act Funerals E-Conference | 23rd Sept 2021 | 10:30am
Estimated length of event: 1 hr
Our 2021 installment of the Public Health Act Funerals E-Conference is aimed at environmental health practitioners and local authorities/ other professionals who are involved in PHA Funerals or so-called ‘Pauper’s’ Funerals.
Learning Objectives:
- Review of the Government’s non-statutory guidance and what it means for Local Authorities;
- Assessing good practice when handling Public Health Act Funerals;
- Identifying current weaknesses in procedures;
- Evaluating how to support bereaved families in the process of arranging funerals.
Register now to receive updates on the event.
If you have any further questions regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact the event organisers at: [email protected]
Our Speakers:
JULIE DUNK
Chief Executive
Institute of Cemetery and Crematory Management
DAVID LOCKWOOD
Senior Business Development Manager
Finders International
LINDESAY MACE
Down to Earth Service Manager
Quaker Social Action
MAYA MAYBLIN
Senior Lecturer
The University of Edinburgh
Event Organiser:
DAVID LOCKWOOD
Senior Business Development Manager
Finders International
For those with hearing impairments, we can provide a subtitled version of the event. We can also provide translated subtitles in your chosen language. To request this, please contact us at: [email protected]
If you have watched this event, we would love your feedback. Please click here to leave us some feedback. For every feedback form filled, we will donate £1 to our chosen charities – Age UK & Young Minds.
Investigation conducted into Local’s Authorities approach to ‘Pauper’s Funerals’
The Guardian has reported that Councils in England and Wales are waiving their responsibility to provide Public Health act funerals, more commonly known as “pauper’s funerals.”
Quaker Social Action, an anti- poverty charity, stated that families of a low income, are often being turned away because they are not able to afford to pay for the burial or cremation of their loved ones.
Senior Business Manager at Finders International and spokesperson for the Public Health Funeral Information Service, David Lockwood, comments: “The article highlights the need for a unified approach by local authorities on this sensitive matter, at a time when the most vulnerable in our society need help navigating the perfect storm of the pandemic and cuts to council funding which have hit services up and down the country.
The non-statutory guidance issued by the ministry for housing, communities and local government was a good start, but the legislation needs to be updated and reflect the times in which we live.
Funeral poverty is a real issue for so many, the amount of people that have approached our advice line has more than doubled since the pandemic hit, funerals are too expensive, and a solution has to be found. Perhaps we need to revisit the idea of the DWP issuing a standard payment when someone passes away to cover the cost of a simple cremation? This would assist so many and ensure that when a Council has to make arrangements local budgets aren’t adversely affected.”
Read the full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jul/06/uk-councils-failing-to-provide-paupers-funerals-investigation-reveals
The Public Health Funerals Information Service (PHFIS) is a free resource for those dealing with public health act funerals. Click through to our homepage here: www.Publichealthfunerals.org to find out more about our news, resources and events.