• Another Langholm facility to close
• Undertaker told ‘build his own’ morgue
A funeral director in Langholm has been told to build his own DIY mortuary, after a shock decision to close existing facilities in the town.
David Erskine says he was informed by Dumfries & Galloway NHS this week that the mortuary at the Thomas Hope hospital is to be shut.
The call came out of the blue – but when he protested, Mr Erskine was promised he would be given the necessary equipment to store the bodies of the deceased himself.
“I don’t know where they think I’m going to put it all,” he said. “Maybe they think I can build a shed at the back of my house.”
There are currently three refrigerated bays at the Thomas Hope mortuary. Under NHS plans – which have already seen the scrapping of a number of services at the hospital – these would close at the end of the year.
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