I am seeking information about emergency mortuaries in relation to the Covid crisis which I believe comes under the remit of emergency planning.
I am looking for minutes of meetings when this would have been discussed, budgets and locations.
Devon County Council’s Pandemic Incident Management Team (PIMT) were responsible for decision making in relation to temporary/emergency mortuary provision for Devon (Unitary area). The decision log record from PIMT relating to this provision is detailed below:
DECISION LOG – Pandemic Incident Management Teams
| Date | Key decision | The reasoning behind the decision |
| 23/03/20 | 1500 Pallets ordered (£21,660.00) One off | Requirement for pallets to store and transport bodies (Excess deaths) |
| 23/03/20 | Site and welfare facility conversion/adaptation (£290,000.) One off | To accommodate estimated excess death numbers of c3000 bodies. Warehouse facility already in place. Site option less costly than airport. |
| 23/03/20 | Cooling unit/power rental (£286,040.00) (16 weeks) One off |
To keep bodies at required temperature in mortuary
|
| 23/03/20 | 4 Used forklifts /2 hand pallet trucks (£48,500.00) One off |
To ensure safe handling of bodies in mortuary. To comply with health and safety requirements for handling
|
| 23/03/20 | Supply and Installation of racking (£134,806.00) One off | To enable effective storage of bodies in temporary mortuary based on guidelines from Emergency Planning/Coroners/Funeral Directors |
| 24/03/20 | Warehouse rental (£32,000.00) (monthly) Recurring | Rental of temporary mortuary facility from landlord. |
| 25/03/20 | Cardboard coffins ordered (£260,695.00) One off | 2000 based on Local Resilience Forum (LRF) initial estimates of Excess Deaths |
| 25/03/20 | Mortuary electrical instalment (£25,000) One off | To install electrical supply to provide generators/cooling equipment. |
| 01/04/20 | TSU operations contract with N & P Services (approx. £320,000.00). Approved by Jan Shadbolt. |
Site operation of the Temporary Storage Unit (TSU) in East Devon
|
| 23/3/20 | Contract for temporary body storage location agreed | Requirement for a contract with the facility owner to enable Temporary Storage Unit (TSU) to be built |
| 03/04/20 | Devon’s Temporary Storage Unit to be offered to other LRF teams if they are not ready with their own TSU (low likelihood acknowledged at this stage) | Collaboration and sharing Devon’s process/facility to reduce duplication and costs across the region |
| 21/04/20 | The refrigeration system in the Temporary Storage Unit will be switched off as of today | With the current numbers of deaths in the region remaining low; switching off the units will reduce daily running costs and reduce environmental effects (generator noise and emissions). The TSU can be fully operational again within 72 hours should there be an increase in mortality projections |
| 18/05/20 | Operational running costs of the Temporary Storage Unit and site security will be reduced from week commending 25th May | With reduced likelihood of worst case scenario excess deaths the TSU operating hours can be reduced by cutting the hours of the site ops team and security |
| 21/05/20 | Decommission the current TSU and end contracts for site ops team and security (end date 19/6/20) | Reduce costs and provide a more sustainable long term TSU, possibly using government units supplied free of charge. |
| 8/06/20 |
Not to provide an alternative TSU for the time-being (‘Noted’ by PIMT) |
Excess Deaths Sit Rep – The large available storage capacity of Devon’s mortuaries and Funeral Directors identified by Excess Death Management Team (EDMT) significantly reduces the likelihood of a DCC provided storage facility being required. Plans will be provided for an emergency storage facility that could be commissioned within 4 weeks; DCC’s ongoing monitoring of the available storage space will provide sufficient prior warning that capacity is reaching a critical status and a TSU is required. This decision was brought as an escalation to PIMT so that PIMT were aware of the decision that had been made. |