Spencer, who had ordered an internal investigation into the matter, said the public would be informed of the findings next week.

Addressing a post-Sectoral Debate press conference yesterday at his ministry's downtown Kingston offices, Spencer said the police had completed their investigation and a report should be ready this week.

After receiving a report from hospital administrators early last month, the health minister ordered that the morgue staff on duty at the time the body went missing be suspended.

The workers were sent home on three-quarters pay, pending the outcome of both the police and internal investigations.

"That situation we are tracking it; we (are) following it, and we are very, very serious. We can't have any part of our institutions that cannot account for people," Spencer told journalists yesterday.

He said the chief medical officer and the permanent secretary were at "one on this issue".