Part A of the MCCD is a straightforward statement of the details of the deceased and the place and time of death.
Patient details should be entered in both the MCCD book and in the ‘Record of Issue’. The issue of a form without a matching record of issue completion may result in a Critical Incident Report
The time of death must be recorded using the 24-hour clock
Only one time and date of death can be accepted. Please give your best estimate based on the information that is available to you
The place of death that should be recorded is, to the best of your knowledge and belief, where the person died. In hospital this will be the ward name or number and the name of the hospital. In out of hospital deaths this should be the address or the location (for example, a particular stretch of motorway)
The Health Board area is the one that the patient died in
The Community Health Index number should be noted on the MCCD and in the documents. Most patients residing in Scotland will have a CHI number.
CHI Numbers
CHI numbers may not be available in some infrequent and specific circumstances such as:
-
Stillbirths
-
People not resident in Scotland, for example, holidaymakers from overseas or others parts of the United Kingdom and temporary residents
-
Infants, including those at less than 24 weeks gestation, who live for a short time after birth.
If there is no CHI number available then this part of the MCCD should be left blank.
CHI numbers should not be created solely for the purposes of death registration as this new creation can result in unintended problems, for example, deceased patients may be called for NHS screening programmes.
The English NHS Number must also not be used.
For forensic pathologists, the CHI number will be available (in most cases) in the clinical records held by the Procurator Fiscal and in the documents related to reporting of the death to the Procurator Fiscal.