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Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Major Richard Reese, has advised that the waiting period for persons wishing to attend post-mortem examin-ations has been decreased from six weeks to between one and two weeks.
Speaking at the 2009 Lawyers, Medical, Forensic Experts and Police Officers forum at the Jamaica Conference Centre, Friday, Major Reese said that because the waiting time has been reduced, "relatives who wish to attend the post-mortem examinations are not adhering to the scheduled dates that the police arrange, because once they attend the post-mortem, they are then required to take responsibility of their loved ones".
He said it is for this reason that relatives might be delaying or not attending the autopsies, because of economic reasons, as they would incur costs pending interment.
Major Reese said the Government would now have to embark on a public-education campaign to alert persons that the waiting time for autopsies has been reduced and to urge them to make the arrangements for the body in a shorter time.
"But, of course, we could not delay the examination because of their tardiness or non-attendance," the permanent secretary pointed out. He said, however, that the Government had storage costs, and hinted that if relatives did not hasten to make arrangements for the bodies, "you have the matter of state burial, so there is an option".
On another matter, he said the number of autopsies has also been increased, as they are being done on a monthly basis. "This has been achieved through the number of days in which autopsies are conducted, and an increase in venues," he said, adding that most of the backlog of outstanding post-mortem reports had been cleared.
