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Changes to the Coroners Bill announced
2 April 2008
The Government has announced revisions to its draft Coroners
Bill and has committed to bringing the draft bill before parliament
as soon as parliamentary time allows. This bulletin examines the
three most important changes to the Bill which are likely to affect
healthcare providers. We will be publishing more detailed guidance
on the reforms once they become law.
Background
The draft Coroners Bill was published in June 2006 in the wake
of the Shipman Inquiry Third Report. It has since been the subject
of extensive consultation.
The fundamental aims of the Coroners Bill remain unaltered,
namely to put bereaved families at the heart of the coronial system
by giving them new powers to challenge Coroners’ decisions, to
increase Coroners’ investigatory powers, to introduce a new appeals
process and to introduce national leadership through the
appointment of a Chief Coroner. However, a number of notable
changes to the draft Bill have now been made.
Learning from serious untoward incidents
Currently, Rule 43 of the Coroners Rules 1984 allows Coroners to
make recommendations to a person or authority with power to take
appropriate action where they believe such action could prevent
similar fatalities.
The revised Bill now requires organisations receiving such a
report from a Coroner to respond. The Chief Coroner will monitor
these reports and the responses received and will provide a summary
of them in his or her annual report to parliament. In advance of
the Bill becoming law, the Government has signalled its intention
to strengthen the existing Rule 43, although at present it is
unclear what is proposed.
In the meantime, healthcare providers should expect to see more
Rule 43 recommendations from Coroners and should bear in mind that
these are invariably announced publicly at the inquest. It is vital
for organisations to carry out their own investigations promptly
following a death which might be subject to a Coroner’s Inquiry.
Adverse publicity can often be minimised if the organisation is in
a position to demonstrate at the inquest that lessons have already
been learned from the death.
Statutory reporting of deaths to the
Coroner
The revised Bill seeks to introduce a requirement for registered
medical practitioners to notify the Coroner of relevant deaths.
Currently no such statutory requirement exists and there is
considerable confusion amongst the medical profession as to which
deaths might be reported.
The Government aims to resolve this confusion (once the Bill
becomes law) by publishing regulations setting out the
circumstances where deaths should be reported. This list will be
put out for consultation.
Strengthening of Coroners’ powers to require
documents
Currently Coroners do not have the power to require information
or documents to be produced to them and have to apply to the High
Court for an Order where documents are not disclosed voluntarily.
The Bill will simplify this process, giving Coroners powers
equivalent to the High Court. This will strengthen Coroners’
abilities to carry out in-depth investigations. The revised Bill
removes a provision which would have allowed the Lord Chancellor to
limit Coroners’ powers to require certain classes of documents.
It is important that healthcare providers have in place proper
systems for providing information and documents to the Coroner, as
the consequences of not doing so will become more serious in the
future and it is vital to maintain a good relationship with the
local Coroner. They should also bear in mind that Coroners are
increasingly likely to request copies of Serious Untoward Incident
Reports.
For more information please contact
Lorna
Hardman.
The content of this bulletin is provided for
the purposes of general interest and information. It contains only
brief summaries of aspects of the subject matter and does not
provide comprehensive statements of the law. It does not constitute
legal advice and does not provide a substitute for it.