Inquest-handling Checklist For Use By In-house Legal Teams

• Published date: 06 November 2020
• Subject Matter: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Law Department Performance, Trials & Appeals & Compensation, Professional Negligence, Workflow and Workload Management , Performance
• Law Firm: Hill Dickinson
• Author: Kate Fawell-Comley

If you have been notified that the coroner is opening an inquest into the death of a patient, and your organisation has been directed to assist with the coroner's inquiry, we hope that this checklist will be useful in setting out the process of dealing with an inquest from start to finish from your position within an in-house legal team.

- Acknowledge receipt of the coroner's request for evidence.

- What does the coroner require by way of evidence and by when?

- Notify the relevant clinician/ staff-member that they need to provide a witness statement and give them a deadline for when you need it back.

- Ensure the witness/witnesses know(s) that you will send the statement once finalised to the coroner's office on their behalf and they should not communicate directly with the coroner and/or the coroner's officer.

- Put the witness/witnesses on notice of any proposed inquest date, even if you do not yet know if they are required to attend.

- Check if the coroner requires copies of the medical records, and provide copies as required.

- It may be prudent to notify the witness's line manager or the relevant head of department so that support can be provided as necessary.

- Check if there was an incident report raised in respect of the events giving rise to the coroner's inquiry.

- If so, contact the relevant team to establish whether a full investigation is going to take place.

- Tell the coroner's officer if an investigation is taking place, and when you are likely to be able to notify the coroner of the outcome/provide them with the investigation report.

- Check whether the family have made a complaint to the trust in respect of the treatment provided to the deceased. Make sure you have copies of the complaint and any response if so.

- Make sure the family are kept informed of the complaint or investigation process.

- Make sure a duty of candour letter has been sent to the family of the deceased if appropriate.

- Cross-reference whether the family have intimated a clinical negligence claim. You don't necessarily need to take any particular steps if they have, but: it is helpful for the witnesses to know; you need to consider whether to make any admissions of liability in...