It is hard enough when we lose someone dear to us but when we hear that their leaving is being referred to the Coroner’s office it can make the situation even harder to bear. Having to wait for his/her judgement before being able to proceed with funeral arrangements is upsetting. Here are a few questions that explain the role of the Coroner.
What is a Coroner?
A Coroner is an independent judicial office holder, appointed by the local authority. Coroners are usually lawyers who work within a framework of law passed by Parliament. The Chief Coroner heads the Coroner service and gives guidance on standards and practice.
What do Coroners do?
Coroners investigate deaths if they have reason to suspect that:
- The death was violent or unnatural; or
- The cause of death is unknown; or
- The deceased died while in state detention.
When a death is reported to a Coroner they:
Make preliminary inquiries to decide if an investigation is required;
If so investigate to establish the identity of the person who has died; how, when, and where they died; and any information required to register the death; and
May use information discovered during the investigation to assist in the prevention of other deaths.
The Coroner may decide to hold an Inquest as part of the investigation. In all cases, the Coroner aims to accommodate families’ funeral plans while making sure that the investigations are effective and complete.
Which deaths are referred to the Coroner?
Approximately half of all deaths in England and Wales are referred to HM Coroner.
Possible reasons for referral to the coroner are as follows;
- the cause of death is unknown
- the deceased was not seen by the certifying doctor either after death or within 14 days before death
- the death was violent or suspicious
- the death was unnatural
- the death may be due to an accident (whenever it occurred)
- the death may be due to self-neglect or neglect by others
- the death may be due to an industrial disease or related to the deceased’s employment
- the death may be due to an abortion
- the death occurred during an operation or before recovery from the effects of an anaesthetic
- the death may be a suicide
- the death occurred during or shortly after detention in police or prison custody
- the death occurred while the deceased was subject to compulsory detention under the Mental Health Act
- · for any other concerning feature
A hospital death should always be reported by a senior doctor.
The coroner (by a coroner’s officer) may wish to contact you about the written referral.
Once a death is referred to the coroner, the reporting doctor may not issue an MCCD to a family until agreed by or on behalf of the coroner.
Where the medical cause of death is agreed by the coroner, the doctor signing the MCCD must indicate that the coroner has been informed and must record the exact words as agreed with the coroner (with no abbreviations).
The above list is not exhaustive.
If there is any doubt the Coroner’s Office should be contacted for further advice. If you are unsure why your relative’s death has been reported please call us and a Coroner’s Officer will discuss it with you.
Reports are made mainly by doctors and the Police. Upon receipt of a death report the Coroner will review the information and decide what should be done. Please see below for the various possibilities.
What will the Coroner do once a death has been referred?
When a death is reported to the Coroner’s Office the Coroner will usually consider the information on the same or the next working day. The following sections set out some of the possible courses of action the Coroner will take.
Families may be concerned about the process and especially whether it will delay the funeral. Every effort is made to complete the Coroner’s inquiries as quickly as possible.
In some cases the Coroner will review the available reports and be satisfied that the person died of natural causes. There is therefore no need to inquire any further and permission will be given to the GP or hospital doctor to issue the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD). Relatives can then register the death at the Register Office just as they would have had the MCCD been issued without referral to the Coroner. Once this has been done the funeral can take place.
Coroners generally complete enquiries very quickly.
Will there be a Post Mortem Examination?
A post-mortem examination will be necessary if;
- The cause of death is not known. Even if the cause is likely to be natural it may be necessary to find out which disease or condition was involved.
- The cause of death may be unnatural.
- The deceased died in some circumstances of state detention.
Please be assured that a Coroner never requests a post-mortem examination without careful consideration. Where it seems likely that death was due to natural causes, every effort is made to trace a doctor who may be able to certify the cause of death.
A cause of death is given. What happens next?
If the results of the post-mortem examination show a natural cause of death immediately and there is no other reason to open an Inquest (such as the person having died in custody) the Coroner’s involvement will cease at this point.
There is no cause of death. What happens next?
The Coroner’s Officer will contact you as soon as the post-mortem examination results are available and explain the cause of death.
If the cause of death cannot be immediately established at the time of the post-mortem examination the Coroner will commence an Investigation which may or may not include an Inquest. Unless there is a reason to investigate the circumstances of the death at the outset the Investigation will be pending the outcome of the pathologist’s written post-mortem examination report.
This article is an excerpt from a more comprehensive report on the Coroners Society website. To read it in full please visit https://www.coronersociety.org.uk/faqs/
