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AMA says plan to ‘turn on the air conditioning’ when someone dies after morgue closes is unacceptable

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has called on authorities to rethink plans to close the morgue at Lake Grace Hospital in WA’s south.

The WA Country Health Service is considering decommissioning the morgue at the run-down facility, because of concerns it does not comply with occupational health and safety standards.

The service told a recent community meeting that the air conditioning would be switched on at the hospital to preserve remains when someone dies.

The AMA’s Richard Choong says that is not an acceptable solution.

“We have to manage our infection control, we have to manage how we respect our deceased,” he said.

“These are important issues, the answer is not just switching the air conditioning on.

“We don’t live in that sort of culture or that sort of world.

“It suggests that it hasn’t been thought out.

“What are the alternative solutions for this community and this whole region?

“It’s a large region. How we manage our dearly departed and deceased is the way it defines our health care.”

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