Funeral director calls for tighter industry regulation

The managing director of funeral directors Wathall’s has called for tighter industry regulation following a disturbing BBC investigation.

Helen Wathall MBE says tighter regulations are urgently needed in the industry after the BBC investigation revealed that a funeral director had been banned from NHS maternity wards and mortuaries in Leeds after keeping babies’ bodies at her home.

Currently, funeral directors do not need to have any formal qualifications – and Helen says the Government needs to take immediate action to protect bereaved families across the UK.

She said: “Believe it or not, funeral directors are not legally required to hold formal qualifications, licensing, or registration to practice.

“Of course, this raises significant concerns within the industry, but the regulatory gap means that anyone can set up a funeral home, and quality standards are not legally mandated.”

Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust said it had barred 38-year-old Amie Upton from its mortuaries and maternity wards in spring this year.

In the BBC news article, it revealed that a bereaved mother had been left “screaming” after discovering that her dead son had been put in a baby bouncer “watching cartoons” in Ms Upton’s living room.

Helen, who is the fifth generation of her family to run Wathall’s, said: “This story is absolutely shocking, and I can’t imagine how upset this poor mother must have felt.

“In light of the lack of legal requirements needed to set up as a funeral director, I am surprised that we don’t read more articles like this in the news.

“It makes me so cross that funeral directors can just set up without any kind of qualifications.

“In the meantime, while the Government sorts out what a piece of regulation might look like, I advise that families check that the funeral directors they are thinking of using has a trade association membership.

“This membership means that the business has been fully inspected by either The Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) or The National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD).”