Hospice security and access controls
Fuller Inquiry · Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 Report · Issued 15 July 2025 · Addressed to: Department of Health and Social Care
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
Hospices that care for deceased people on their premises should: introduce auditable access control of the area where deceased people are kept; have Standard Operating Procedures regarding the care of deceased people, including security of and access to the areas where deceased people are kept; and minimise unaccompanied access to areas where deceased people are cared for, wherever possible.
Fuller Inquiry, Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 Report · 15 Jul 2025 Source PDF →
Response — verbatim from government
●Department of Health and Social Care
The Department of Health and Social Care has worked with Hospice UK to ask its clinical leaders group network to urgently review their clinical practices against the recommendations. Hospice UK has already updated its Care After Death guidance for the hospice sector recommending that standard operating procedures regarding care of the deceased includes security measures to protect their dignity and safety, which may include CCTV monitoring.
Department of Health and Social Care · 1 Dec 2025
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 1 Dec 2025 Accepted in full. DHSC has worked with Hospice UK to ask its clinical leaders group network to urgently review their clinical practices against the recommendations. Hospice UK has already updated its Care After Death guidance for the hospice sector recommending that standard operating procedures regarding care of the deceased includes security measures to protect their dignity and safety, which may include CCTV monitoring. Any temporary or externally commissioned body store should meet these same security and governance standards. The guidance also highlights the inquiry's recommendations suggesting the introduction of auditable access control to the area where deceased people are kept and minimise unaccompanied access of non-permitted staff or contractors if possible. (Source: Interim update on government progress in responding to the Fuller inquiry phase 2 report, December 2025)
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Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
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