1939 Registration

[Parmesan]

maybe its me but that's what I call a positive response! 

[Selina]

Yes I think it is positive and nice to be kept informed that the query has moved along another step but some people were a little concerned that it sounded as if there was a problem.

Selina

[LizzieW]

Oh that's good then.  I'll await their next e-mail with interest.

[mevans12]

Hi

I submitted a request on the 20th December and recieved a number of 'holding' responses (about 1 every week), and then yesterday recieved what I'd asked for.

The response was mostly as I'd expected and persons, who I knew lived at the address, but are still alive were not mentioned.

Their policy is to respond within 20 working days from the date of the orignal request, mine took 19 working days for a response, so it will take time.

They also pointed out that it took them 14 hours work to process my request.

As an NHS employee myself, and the financial pressures the NHS is currently making I wonder how long it will be before requests take even longer to process as demand increases.

Marc

[chrispaton]

As an NHS employee myself, and the financial pressures the NHS is currently making I wonder how long it will be before requests take even longer to process as demand increases.

Clearly this is a case for outsourcing the provision of access to the records. It's not the same in Scotland - the GRO has the records here; nor in Ulster - PRONI holds them. Perhaps a case for depositing the original English and Welsh register at the National Archives?

Chris

[behindthefrogs]

The problem is that the registration details form part of a persons national health records and so it is probably not just a simple matter of depositing the original registration in the archives.  Even that is complicated by the ongoing registrations and changes in details in later years.

This is thus not the same as or as simple as a one off BMD registration or census entry.

David

[chrispaton]

A problem indeed, and yet one which both Scotland and Northern Ireland seem to have a solution for, where the same situation applies. The GROS in Scotland digitised the records for the NHS, so has the records (not sure who has the original and who has the copy, but I suspect GROS has the original). PRONI has the originals, which have not been digitised.

Chris

[andycand]

Hi Chris

I seem to recall reading recently that the 1939 Registration documentation is at the Smedley Hydro Southport, the same location as the GRO, so its not the location that creates a problem its the time spent linking a death with the 1939 information. Even in Scotland they would have to track through records to locate the 1939 address for a deceased person and the time it took could well depend upon whether the record is computerised or not, delving through archives for a file is quite time consuming.

England & Wales is different to Scotland in that you seem to be able to apply for a specific address which means that in Marc's case the 14 hours was for multiple people that they had to track the other way, to see if they were deceased or not.

Andy

[chrispaton]

England & Wales is different to Scotland in that you seem to be able to apply for a specific address which means that in Marc's case the 14 hours was for multiple people that they had to track the other way, to see if they were deceased or not.

That is a fair point, though I think my answer was more in relation to the fact that this is a drain on NHS resources. It need not be if responsibility for access on genealogical grounds was passed to an agency far better suited to dealing with it - which may well be the case, with an announcement apparently due imminently. Scotland has been able to get this up and running quickly due to the fact that two agencies have access to the information - the NHS and the GROS. It's not a burden on the NHS or the taxpayer here also, due to the £13 fee. Of course, that's only per person, and not per household - I suspect it would be more if searches were carried out by address, but the point is that the system here is not a drain on the NHS.

Chris