Media Release
Date: 11 November 2014
New Register Office Service at RUH
Bath & North East Somerset Council is working with the Royal United Hospital in Bath to open a new Register Office service for local residents starting Monday November 10, 2014.
The new Register Office will operate two days a week, Mondays and Thursdays, from 9.30am to 4pm, to register births and deaths. It will be sited in Bath and Wessex House, Department B21, RUH.
The idea was proposed by the Council's Superintendent Registrar, Alison Manning, as part of the Council's '10 in 100' scheme, which encourages staff to look at new ways of working to improve services for customers.
Councillor Ben Stevens (Lib-Dem, Widcombe), the Council's Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, said: "By providing an onsite register office at the RUH, we hope to make the registering of births and deaths that bit more convenient for the families who pass through the hospital. Having this new office, in addition to our offices at The Guildhall in Bath, The Hollies in Midsomer Norton and the Civic Centre in Keynsham, will make our Registrars even more accessible to the residents of Bath and North East Somerset.
James Scott, Chief Executive of the RUH said: "By making it possible to register the death of a loved one here at the hospital, we hope to help make the whole process run that bit more smoothly at such a difficult time for relatives.
"Likewise, mothers and fathers will also be able to register their new-borns' births here at the RUH. Thursday was chosen as one of the days the Register Office will be open as it is the day of the week women are most likely to give birth at the RUH. So we hope as many families as possible will be able to take advantage of the service.
"We're proud to be bringing another essential service into the heart of the hospital – strengthening our links with local partners in the process. Integrating services and working more closely with our partners in the community is a real priority for the RUH."
Alison Manning said: "I'm really pleased that my idea has been taken up in this way. We've worked very closely with the hospital team to get this new service up and running in a very short space of time." The move closely follows the opening of a Register Office in the new Civic Centre in Keynsham which operates on Mondays and Tuesdays each week. To book an appointment with the Register Office at the RUH, contact 01225 477234 or speak to the Patient Affairs Office at the hospital.