Canberra morgues taking NSW overflow
July 24th, 2009 at 03:27pm
The morgues of New South Wales are overflowing it would seem, and Canberra is picking up the slack.
Shocking new details have emerged about the shortfall of the State’s morgues, with revelations some bodies have been transferred interstate.
It’s no secret the State’s morgues are at capacity and the government is blaming a shortage of recruits for the backlog which leaves families often waiting for several weeks to bury their loved ones.
But it has now been revealed that four bodies have been sent to Canberra to be assessed during the last week, three of them travelling from Wollongong.
A couple points. Firstly, it’s good to know that Canberra’s morgues have room to spare, as I recall a story (which I can’t find online) earlier this year about a Canberra morgue being shut down temporarily due to a technical fault…if memory serves, Canberra Hospital was being used as the backup morgue in that case.
Secondly, is the New South Wales Government paying the ACT Government for use of the morgue facilities? The ACT Government had to pay for space in NSW prisons before they built a centre of respite for the criminally challenged, so I hope that NSW is paying for the space here which would normally be reserved for ACT deceased.
Samuel
Entry Filed under: Canberra Stories,Samuel's Editorials