Ordering and retaining medical certificates of cause of death (MCCDs)
Guidance for GP practices, hospitals, hospices and medical examiner offices on how to order MCCDs and what to do with completed MCCDs.
Applies to England and Wales
The current medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD) was introduced as part of the statutory medical examiner system on 9 September 2024, along with updated guidance for medical practitioners completing an MCCD in England and Wales.
Ordering MCCDs
MCCDs must be ordered from the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA).
If you have not yet registered for the NHSBSA MCCD ordering service, please do so now to avoid any delays in getting MCCDs.
Register for the NHSBSA MCCD ordering service
If you have already registered, you can order MCCDs through the online ordering portal.
Retaining the completed MCCD
Many GPs, hospitals, hospices, care homes and medical examiner offices scan the completed MCCD before emailing it to their medical examiner office (and many medical examiner offices scan the completed MCCD before sending it to the register office). You must securely store the paper copy of the completed MCCD and any partially completed MCCDs until the medical examiner has confirmed the cause of death to you and sent the completed MCCD to the registrar.
Once the medical examiner has confirmed the cause of death and sent the completed MCCD to the registrar, all duplicate copies of the MCCD held by the attending practitioner and medical examiner can be destroyed.
In England and Wales, GPs, hospitals, hospices and medical examiner offices must keep completed counterfoils for 2 years in line with NHS England’s records management code of practice and NHS Wales’s records management code of practice 2022.
Old MCCDs
You should securely destroy unused booklets of the MCCD that were in use before 9 September 2024.
For partially used booklets, you should remove and securely destroy the unused MCCDs, leaving the counterfoils only.
In England, GPs, hospitals, hospices, care homes and medical examiner offices must keep completed counterfoils for old MCCDs for 2 years before destroying, in line with NHS England’s records management code of practice.
In Wales, the equivalent guidance is the NHS Wales records management code of practice. This sets out the requirements for the retention, storage and destruction of health records, including those related to death.
Updates to this page
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Amended guidance to confirm that MCCDs must now be ordered from the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), with information on how to do this.
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Updated box to add link to register with the NHSBSA MCCD ordering service.
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Added box explaining that from 1 June 2026 MCCDs must be ordered from NHSBSA.
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Amended guidance to update the process for ordering MCCDs, which MCCDs organisations in Wales should order, and what to do with completed or old MCCDs.
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First published.