Report of the Home Office review of death certification / Home Office.

  • Great Britain. Home Office.
Date:
2001
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Report of the Home Office review of death certification / Home Office. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    4/62
    The review gave rise to much debate about whether ‘old age’ could ever be a valid and acceptable cause of death for the purposes of certification, or whether the term was used simply to conceal the fact that the precise cause of death was unknown. We therefore recommend that the attribution of ‘old age’ as a cause of death on a MCCD should be added to the list of circumstances requiring registrars to refer a death to the coroner (Paragraph 12.8.5) For the same reasons, we recommend that a small group, including medical professionals and organisations representing elderly people, should review the use of ‘old age’ (and perhaps other terms) as a cause of death (Paragraph 12.8.6) The proposals for a ‘medical examiner’, as described in Option 3, raise issues about how such a new arrangement might be resourced and funded. We therefore recommend that questions of cost and manpower should be pursued with the Department of Health and other relevant bodies (Paragraph 12.9.5) This review of death certification procedures cannot be considered in isolation. The procedures are closely connected with the arrangements for the registration and investigation of deaths. The proposals for a new office of ‘medical examiner’ would impinge directly on the existing responsibilities of registrars, medical referees, and coroners. We therefore recommend that the results of this Review should be taken into account by the Shipman Inquiry, the Home Office Fundamental Review of the Coroners’ System, and any other relevant initiative (Paragraph 14.2.4)