Chief Coroner’s consultation response: Medical Examiners

Introduction

1. This is the Chief Coroner’s response to the consultation exercise launched by the Department of Health (DH) on 10 March 2016, Consultation on the introduction of medical examiners and reforms to death certification in England and Wales.
2. The Chief Coroner would be happy to discuss any of the issues raised in this response.
3. The Chief Coroner welcomes the proposed implementation of the Medical Examiner (ME) system.1 It should supplement and complement the work of the coroner service. It should provide, with the coroner service, a more complete and independent system of death investigation in England and Wales. It should achieve more accurate medical certificates of the cause of death (MCCDs). It should ensure more appropriate referrals (reports) of deaths to the coroner. It should also produce more accurate data about the causes of death, particularly in hospitals. These are admirable objectives……