Ethical Hospital Post-Mortem Practice Policy

Version 2.0 approved 16 May 2024

The Ethical Hospital Post-Mortem Practice Policy (PDF 242KB) provides the mandatory requirements to ensure SA Health aligns with the nationally agreed guidelines and associated principles for ethical hospital autopsy practice (referred to herein as post-mortem examination) in relation to:

  • The Hospital Post-Mortem Request and Authority Form
  • Procedures for hospital post-mortem, and
  • The handling and disposal of tissue and organs following post-mortem.

Applicability

This policy applies to all employees and contracted staff of SA Health; that is all employees and contracted staff of the Department for Health and Wellbeing (DHW), Local Health Networks (LHNs) including state-wide services aligned with those Networks and SA Ambulance Service (SAAS).