news.bbc.co.uk
Although coroners now have wider powers, it seems the use of those powers varies widely.
Coroners often hear cases in which death might have been avoided. They have long had the power to report those cases to the appropriate authority, and since July 2008, they have been entitled to demand a response. According to new figures, however, some coroners are doing that far less frequently than others.
Now, any response must be sent to the coroner within 56 days and the Lord Chancellor may publish responses received. The first summary of those responses shows that:
* By the end of March, reports had been issued in 207 cases, and in 57 of the 115 coronial jurisdictions. (This means that 58 coroners made no reports.)
* Just five coroners accounted for nearly a third of all those cases. In fact, most of them – 18 – came before the South Manchester coroner (and 12 came before the City of Manchester Coroner). The Cardiff and South Staffordshire coroners each made reports in 15 cases.
* More than a quarter of cases in which reports were issued concerned hospital deaths, but there were also significant numbers of reports concerning mental health-related deaths and deaths in the community.
* Nearly a fifth of reports concerned deaths on the roads, and about a tenth revealed health and safety concerns.
These are, of course, early days, and, as the Lord Chancellor’s summary itself explains, what a coroner does is determined by the cases he or she hears. There are, nevertheless, striking disparities in the extent to which coroners’ report-powers are now being used.
The summary may be found here.
