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With all the sadness of the 100,000 (and counting) deaths in the UK from COVID in the last year, one issue has been resolutely avoided in the public domain. For thousands of years, the many religions in the world have seen this life as just leading on to a different and usually greater world beyond death.

Is this just outdated unscientific wishful thinking?

The experience of some people suggests it is something to consider.

Families commonly report that it comes as a relief once the subject is brought out into the open.

Three senior doctors and two senior clergy have contributed to COVID-19: Where is God in all this? published this month by Grove Booklet on Ethics for £3.95. (https://grovebooks.co.uk/collections/ethics).

In the Covid 19 era the likelihood of death and place of death for different groups of people has changed

Aside from this Covid 19 era half of us will die in hospital. A recent government study shows that, for the majority, hospitals deal well with the dying. But one area for improvement appears to be communication between medical staff and the patient and their families. While medical staff can be reluctant to be pessimistic, most patients and their families would prefer to be told if the end is very near.

Recently his mother, aged 93, died ‘in excruciating pain’. This event has caused him to reflect on the problem of pain and suffering, either in body or in mind, and to look into its meaning and purpose for those with a religious belief.

Nurses have believed for a long time that even when almost all signs of life have left, a dying patient might well be able to hear your parting words.

Coping with ‘probate’ after a person dies intestate is very troubling and unsatisfactory.

In the midst of Covid -19, advanced cancer patients are given the opportunity for discussion of palliative/hospice care,

Reflections on issues raised in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic by a retired doctor and the former Bishop of Exeter

An 80 year old friend asked Dr Elaine Sugden ( a retired consultant oncologist) a number of questions about the spread of COVID-19. She checked the latest information from various sources.

We need to ask the questions, “What happens when we die? Where do we go next?” No one else is going to ask people these questions, but they are the most important of all.

Anaesthetists are some of the doctors looking after patients of all ages in the intensive care units where constantly some are dying from the effects of Covid -19. They urge us all to imagine we are in these patient’s situation and discuss our wishes NOW so that our families are prepared to help the doctors with the difficult decisions they have to make. A Consultant Anaesthetist has written:

The COVID-19 emergency makes end of life planning essential NOW - we are all at risk

In the UK most deaths have been among those already frail from old age or chronic illness. A few were young and in apparently good health. They died in hospital, alone apart from medical staff because no visitors are allowed. After death the body is sealed, no one can view the body. No funerals are allowed, just a cremation or burial. What then can we do?

Dr Rachel Clarke, a palliative care specialist, on the BBC Today Programme on March 27 emphasised the importance of the psychological aspects of facing the end of one’s life.

The BBC reports that Palliative care doctors are urging people to have a conversation about what they would want if they, or their loved ones, became seriously unwell with coronavirus.

To add to all the other worries that a death and bereavement can bring, many people may also have very practical worries about the cost of a funeral. Like the cost of weddings the cost of funerals seems to have been inflating in recent years.

It may be that you have only heard about him in passing. But in any case, now would seem to be a good time to call on him. There is no waiting list. He is always available, free of charge. It is called praying.