LIB DEM DISGUST AT £15 MILLION IN 'ASH PAYMENTS' RECEIVED BY DOCTORS (Scarborough and Whitby Liberal Democrats)

Scarborough and Whitby Liberal Democrats <info@scarboroughandwhitbylibdems.org.uk>

LIB DEM DISGUST AT £15 MILLION IN 'ASH PAYMENTS' RECEIVED BY DOCTORS

January 22, 2010 5:00 AM

Doctors working in hospitals earned almost £15m last year in so called 'ash cash' payments made by grieving families, figures released this week by the Liberal Democrats have revealed. The payment is made to doctors to sign a form releasing a body for cremation and our own NHS Trust, the Scarborough and North East Yorks Health Care Trust has been revealed to have earned £69,438 during 2008 and 2009 from this practice.

Commenting Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said:

"This is a well established practice but you really can't justify taking money off grieving relatives when this involves nothing beyond most doctors normal working hours.

"People are at their most vulnerable after the death of a loved one and the last thing they need is these extra charges.

"The NHS is meant to care for people from the cradle to grave but these charges undermine that principle.

"The Government must take action to put an end to this practice as soon as possible as it simply cannot be justified."

Local Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate, Tania Exley-Moore said that she was 'horrified' to hear of this and added that the practice was "sordid, immoral and unethical"