DEAD GREEDY; Exclusive Hospital charges pounds 30 plus VAT for grieving relatives to view bodies.

Byline: By Bob Dow

GREEDY hospital bosses are demanding fees to let grieving relatives pay their respects to their loved ones.

Pen-pushers have levied a charge of pounds 30 plus VAT to view bodies in a hospital mortuary.

One bereaved family member said last night: "It's diabolical.

"The person in the mortuary could be someone's wife, husband, mother or brother. You shouldn't have to pay for the privilege of seeing them."

The "viewing fee" is being enforced at the mortuary of Balfour Hospital in Kirkwall.

Orkney's two firms of undertakers are aghast at the charge and fear they will have to pass it on to heartbroken families.

The undertakers already have to pay to store bodies at the mortuary and to hold funerals in the hospital chapel.

But they see the viewing charge as a step too far - especially since no NHS staff have to be there when families see loved ones.

Funeral director John Corse said: "It's incredibly insensitive. It's ridiculous to charge relatives. There is a lot of anger over it."

John warned that if NHS Orkney refuse to back down, he may have to start passing the charge on to his clients.

Alton Tait, of Orkney's other funeral business, added: "It's a petty thing to be charging for."

NHS Orkney are struggling with a deficit of almost half a million pounds for the last financial year and bosses are trying to save pounds 3million.

Finance director Iain White said the viewing fee was needed to cover some of the costs of running the mortuary.

He added: "There is no element of profit, although there is a substantial saving on taxpayers' money."

White said the cash saved had been "redirected to services".

The fee is not charged for patients who die in the hospital. It applies to bodies kept at the mortuary by the undertakers, who have no storage facilities.

CAPTION(S):

AGHAST: Funeral director Alton Tait is angry