Stopping autopsies at Gades – dead people are left in the keel

– This backlog is quite large. Last week there were ten in the queue. This week, no forensic autopsies will be carried out because there are no forensic doctors to perform autopsies, says senior engineer and autopsy technician Marius Dirdal at Gades to Bergens Tidende.

There are only two forensic pathologists working at the institute, of which only one of them is in a full-time position. Dirdal calls the staffing situation “serious” and says that they receive calls from funeral homes and relatives who are waiting for the dead to be released, so that funerals and interments can be carried out.

– We risk having to close down for periods, like now, says Dirdal.

Per Kaare Lilleng and Inge Morild, who are the employed forensic pathologists at Gades, agree that the situation is desperate. The latter fears that there might be a crisis.

– This affects survivors, next of kin and funeral directors. It also goes beyond the police. If it continues as it is now, I fear there will be a crisis. That the police have to send the dead to Stavanger or other places to have autopsies carried out, says Morild, who works in a 25 percent position.

Gades is run by the University of Bergen (UiB). Christian Veleder, who is head of department at the Faculty of Medicine, states that negotiations are underway regarding the transfer of forensic medicine to Helse Bergen.