During a heatwave on July 7 and 8, inspectors from the Human Tissue Authority found that a fire door at Worthing Hospital’s mortuary was left open, allowing passersby on a public footpath to see inside where bodies were being prepared for release. The inspection also revealed several other issues including improper storage of bodies beyond the recommended period and inadequate backup power supply for refrigeration units. University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust acknowledged these findings and stated that many issues have already been addressed since the inspection.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-15,
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A dead body in an NHS hospital mortuary was seen from a public footpath after staff left open a fire door during the heatwave, inspectors have found.
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inspectors → see → heatwave
Human Tissue Authority (HTA) inspectors visited Worthing Hospital in West Sussex during a heatwave on July 7 and 8.
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inspectors → visit → July
The fire exit door was 'frequently opened' during hot weather which meant that 'unrestricted access' to the body store was available.
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access → open → store
Inspectors continued that when the door was left open this provided 'a direct line of sight from a publicly accessible footpath' to the mortuary.
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this → continue → mortuary
They added that from the footpath the team 'observed a body being prepared for release' during their visit to the hospital.
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body → add → hospital
Live CCTV of viewing tables at Worthing and of the inside of body storage fridges at St Richard's, was visible on monitors in the security office, the inspectors revealed.
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inspectors → view → office
The camera monitoring the mortuary office fire exit door at Worthing Hospital was 'not operational', the report noted.
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report → monitor → Hospital
The report also found grieving families were at risk of being shown the wrong body.
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families → find → body
A dead body at Worthing Hospital mortuary was seen from a public footpath after staff left open a fire door during the heatwave, inspectors have found
The mortuary is on the ground floor of the North Wing and inspectors said when the door was left open this provided a 'a direct line of sight from a publicly accessible footpath'
Inspectors said staff were not consistently following standard procedures and found three identifying factors were not routinely checked against details shared by families.
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factors → see → families
The report said this posed 'a risk of bereaved families viewing the wrong body' and records did not show if the staff who held the viewings had been trained or assessed.
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who → say → viewings
A number of other failings were also recorded, including seven bodies at Worthing and the Royal Sussex which were held in refrigerated storage for more than 30 days and were deteriorating.
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which → record → days
Fridges and freezers at the Royal Sussex and the Princess Royal had no backup power supply in the case of a power cut.
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Fridges → have → cut
It was also found that tissue was stored with incomplete consent records, meaning the Trust could not adequately prove consent had come from the right person required under the Human Tissue Act.
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consent → find → Act
During the inspection of Worthing Hospital and satellite sites – St Richard's in Chichester, West Sussex and Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton – which are run by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, HTA officials identified 10 major and six minor shortfalls of the HTA standards.
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officials → run → standards
A University Hospitals Sussex spokesperson said: 'The dignity, security, privacy and respectful care of people after death are of fundamental importance to us, and we take the findings of the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) extremely seriously, including the areas identified by the inspection where our standards needed to improve.
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standards → say → inspection
The vast majority of the areas identified in July have already been addressed, including all aspects of processes and procedures where inspectors identified any potential risk of error.
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inspectors → identify → error
The report also found grieving families were at risk of being shown the wrong body
'
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families → find → body
We have also made immediate improvements to strengthen security and privacy, alongside a number of other changes to the physical environment, and more widely the Trust has already begun a far-reaching programme of improving all mortuary facilities across our hospital sites.
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Trust → make → sites
The Human Tissue Authority has not suspended or revoked the Trust's licence, and we continue to work closely with the regulator to ensure the highest standards of care, dignity and respect for deceased patients and their families.
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we → suspend → patients
In the wake of the David Fuller scandal, NHS Trusts were asked to take action to ensure all access points to mortuaries or body stores are controlled by swipe card security access and ensure there is effective CCTV coverage monitoring access to and from mortuary areas.
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points → ask → areas
The Aporia
