FUNERAL directors in Bournemouth and Poole say they are working hard to continue to provide respectful and caring ceremonies, despite an increase in their services.

Chester Pearce Funeral Service in Westbourne and Tappers Funeral Service have both said they have seen a sharp rise in their funeral requests in line with the upsurge in death rate nationally this month.

This comes as the temporary Covid mortuary at Poole Port was activated on Thursday January 28 in response to Dorset's rising coronavirus deaths.

Chester Pearce Funeral Service are working with Royal Bournemouth Hospital and have stated that they have already begun transferring people over to the newly opened facility.

Managing Director Stephen Nimmo said: “We have seen an increase in our workload. The main challenge that is presents is ensuring that families still receive a respectful and caring service for their loved one.

“We do a lot of work with the hospital. The hospital mortuary is reaching capacity so a couple of weeks ago we began discussing what do we do with people.

“There are no panic measures in place. I know that social media would be jumping all over this, but it is not a bad situation if it means we can still provide a proper dignified and compassionate service for our families.

“It is credit to the team, and everyone involved in bereavement care.”

Although many residents have said that the new mortuary would be used as a storage facility, but Mr Nimmo has stated that this is not the case.

This current crisis has caused a huge rise in deaths locally not known in my lifetime and not in the 35 years I have been working here

This is down to the coherent and collective ability for the bereavement sector in the conurbation, with constant communication between the hospital, the funeral directors, crematoriums and bereavement services.

Bournemouth Echo: Stephen Nimmo of Chester Pearce Funeral Service in Westbourne. ..

Mr Nimmo has said that one of the biggest difficulties at the moment is managing people’s expectations.

He added: “Most families have seen what is going on in the news and immediately think that they are going to have to wait three or four weeks in order to properly mourn and pay respects to loved one but that is not that case.

“It would be very easy to say that as a negative thing, with the death rate being so high, but we and other funeral services are not becoming overwhelmed and our level or care and attention is not being affected and that is because of this new facility.

“It is not the fault of these families that their loved one died at this time during a pandemic so they should receive the same level of care and attention that we have provided previously and have the chance to celebrate and mourn the life of a loved one.”

Bournemouth Echo:

Steven Tapper at Tappers Funeral Services says that the current death rate is something he have never experienced or seen before in this area.

He said: “This current crisis has caused a huge rise in deaths locally not known in my lifetime and not in the 35 years I have been working here.

“Currently, it is at the normal annual death rate plus an extra 70 or 80 per cent.

“If you take that very basic set of information and consider what is happening with the infection rate, it is an estimated guess, but it is possible that we are at the peak. If we are not at the peak, then we are close to it.”

However, Mr Tapper believes that the service are in place to cope with the current crisis.

He also stated that the current virus is not just causing deaths which could be premature, but that those mourning have been unable to do so properly, which could lead to a rise in bereavement counselling in later life.

Bournemouth Echo: Pic from shona@lizleanpr.co.uk Steven Tapper, joint managing director of Tapper Funeral Service

Mr Tapper added: “The only thing I can liken it to is a war on humankind.

“Normally people who are on their death bed, they have the opportunity to pass away peacefully. Therefore, in that time, they might have visits from close family and friends.

“If someone was to catch this virus whilst they are in hospital or nearing their time to go, they are cut off from the outside world and family members are not able to comfort them in their dying moments or hold their hand as they pass away peacefully.

“It is like having something robbed from them. It is very cruel on the victim as well as their family.”