What is an Inquest?
An inquest is a fact-finding inquiry to establish four statutory questions:
- Who has died
- How/when and where the death occurred.
It is not the Coroner’s role to apportion blame and their conclusion will not name any individual or organisation as being negligent or criminally liable for the death.
However, the Coroner will scrutinise the evidence of the medical treatment which the patient received and will consider whether there were any delays or shortcomings in care which more than minimally contributed to the death.
When a patient has died, the clinician will report the death to the Coroner if it is unnatural or unexpected. On occasion, the relatives of the deceased will also contact the Coroner's Office if they believe there has been an act of clinical negligence.
On receipt of the report of death, the Coroner must as soon as practicable conduct an investigation into the person's death if they have reasonable cause to suspect that:
- The cause of death is unknown
- The deceased died a violent death, which will include accident and self-harm
- The deceased died in custody or otherwise in state detention. This will include deaths in prison and deaths that occur in police custody or when a patient is detained under the Mental Health Act.
- There is reasonable cause to suspect that the death is unnatural. This will include deaths that were due to a recognised complication of medical treatment or where the death was more than minimally contributed to by shortcomings in the medical treatment received by the deceased before he or she died.
The Coroner will lead the investigative process, deciding what evidence they require for their investigation. This will often include requesting witness statements to assist the Coroner in their investigation.
You may be asked to provide a statement if you were:
- Involved in treating a patient at the time of death;
- To provide an overview of their care and treatment;
- To address family concerns; or to
- Summarise any organisational learning that has been implemented following the death.
Useful documents
The Coroners' Courts
Our Trust is served by two main Coroners Courts; Sefton and Liverpool. Sefton holds their sessions in two locations, one in Southport Town Hall and the other in Bootle Town Hall. Some inquests may also be held virtually.
