The Queen Elizabeth Hospital has revealed it has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars storing unclaimed bodies after years of being legally unable to dispose of them, as it prepares to lay 65 people to their final rest.

The move follows the enactment of the Health Services (Disposal of Abandoned Bodies) Regulations, under which the hospital on Thursday published a notice listing the names of 65 people whose remains have gone unclaimed, including some who died as far back as February 2021.

Until the regulations came into force, the QEH did not have the legal authority to dispose of unclaimed bodies, regardless of how long they remained in the mortuary. The hospital was therefore required by law to retain the remains while making every effort to identify and contact the next of kin or other people entitled to claim them.