Wirral University Teaching Hospital (WUTH) has undertaken over 50 public health funerals in the last three years. The figures have been published in answer to a Freedom of Information Act request.
In the last three financial years from 2007 to April 5th 2010 54 public health funerals were undertaken by WUTH. This total is broken down by gender as 40 males and 14 females.
In the age group 30 – 60 there were 15 public health funerals. For the age group 61 – 80 there were 30 funerals and for age 81 and above there were 9 funerals. As per The Office of National Statistics guidelines, data sets resulting in less than 5 results are not made public as to do so could possibly identify the people concerned.
The cost of the public health funerals is broken down as:
2007/8 = £19,368
2008/9 = £29,380
2009/10 = £13,389
That is a total expenditure of £62,137 with a typical funeral costing approximately £1,150.
Across England and Wales there were approximately 2,200 public health funerals in the last financial year, amounting to a total expenditure of some £1.56m. The figures have been collated by the Local Government Association (LGA) and are described by David Rogers of the LGA as tragic. He says “These figures speak for themselves. People, mostly elderly, are dying around us with no family or friends to care for them”.
Eleanor Rigby was a famous hit in 1966 for the Beatles about a woman who “died in the church and was buried along with her name. Nobody came”.
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