Reports > The Third Report > CHAPTER SIXTEEN - The Dukinfield Crematorium Medical Referees >
Introduction
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16.1 |
In this Chapter, I shall examine the work of the two doctors who were employed as medical referees at the Dukinfield crematorium during the years in which Shipman killed so many of his patients. Dr Betty Hinchliffe was appointed as the Deputy Medical Referee in the late 1970s and became Medical Referee on the death of her predecessor, Dr Thomas Holme, in 1989. Soon after Dr Hinchliffe's appointment, Dr Jane Holme, the daughter of Dr Thomas Holme, was appointed as her deputy. Dr Hinchliffe continued as Medical Referee until 1999, when she retired. Dr Jane Holme retired at the same time. |
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16.2 |
Dr Hinchliffe authorised the cremation of the bodies of 176 of Shipman's patients. Of those patients, Shipman had killed 107. Dr Holme authorised the cremation of the bodies of 31 of Shipman's patients, of whom 23 had been killed. I shall consider whether the frequency with which these medical referees considered cremation forms completed by Shipman, or the unusual content of those forms, should have caused the medical referees to be in any way concerned about Shipman's practice. I shall also consider whether the contents of any particular forms were so strange or unsatisfactory that the medical referee who saw them should have refused to authorise cremation of the body and have ordered an autopsy or referred the death to the coroner. |
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN - The Dukinfield Crematorium Medical Referees
