When To Notify Deaths To The Coroner: New Legal Framework From 1st October

It has been a long time coming, but doctors are finally about to have a clearer legal steer on when they should be reporting deaths to the Coroner.

'The Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019' have existed in draft form for several years, but will at last see the light of day when they come into force from 1st October 2019.

These new Regulations set out the range of circumstances in which deaths must be notified to the Coroner, with further practical detail provided in the recently published accompanying guidance document.

We look at what the new Regulations say and their possible impact.

Up to now...

Until now, there have been no statutory criteria for reporting deaths to the Coroner. In the words of the Chief Coroner in his 2017/18 annual report, this has created 'uncertainty and inconsistency'.

Whilst there are some pointers for doctors on this within existing guidance on completing Medical Certificates of Cause of Death (MCCDs), this is broadly drawn and has no legal force.

There have accordingly been calls for a clearer, more binding set of criteria for some time.

What do the new Regulations say?

When to notify?

The new Regulations place a duty on registered medical practitioners to notify the relevant Senior Coroner of a death if one or more of the circumstances set out in Regulation 3(1) applies. These need to be read alongside the accompanying guidance document which gives a practical steer on the situations which might fall within each category.

The list of circumstances requiring notification include where the medical practitioner 'suspects' (likely to be interpreted as a low hurdle) that the person's death was due to (i.e. more than minimally/trivially caused or contributed to by) any of the following:

Poisoning - whether deliberate or accidental, including substances which would normally be benign but can be harmful at certain levels (e.g. salt). Exposure to toxic substances - including radioactive material. Medicinal products, controlled drugs or psychoactive substances - e.g. deliberate or accidental intake of recreational drugs, 'legal highs' or medications, whether prescribed or unprescribed. Violence/trauma/injury - e.g. inflicted by someone else or themselves or sustained in an accident such as a fall or RTA. Self-harm - e.g. if reasonable to suspect the person died as a result of poisoning, trauma or injuries inflicted by him/herself. Neglect, including self-neglect - the guidance accompanying the regulations goes into...