Local funeral director urges Government to regulate the industry following BBC investigation

The managing director of a firm of funeral directors has expressed feeling ‘angry’ that individuals can set up without any kind of qualification.

Helen Wathall MBE said that tighter regulations are urgently needed in the industry and the Government needs to take immediate action to protect bereaved families across the UK.

Helen 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.”

This week, a 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.

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 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 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 actually 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, whilst 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).”

Helen said bereaved families deserved a professional service and needed to know they are in "caring hands".

She explained: “It is wrong that funeral directors do not need to be qualified. Right now, absolutely anyone could go online, design business cards, get them printed and put them through people’s doors and wait for the phone to ring.

“This article about the new mother who lost her baby is tragic. She put her trust in this woman – the funeral director - thinking that she was going to make all the necessary funeral arrangements for her baby son and she didn’t.

“Unfortunately, in the absence of mandatory qualifications for funeral directors, stories like this are going to come to light."