The Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019 7Minute Briefing

1. The Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019 7Minute Briefing

2. Legal Framework • Under section 3 of the new Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019 registered medical practitioners in England and Wales have a duty to notify the relevant senior coroner regarding a death which they suspect occurred in the following circumstances: • Poisoning, deliberate or accidental • Exposure to toxic substance • Use of medicinal product, controlled drug or psychoactive substance • Violence, trauma or injury • Self-harm • Neglect, including self-neglect • Death due to medical treatment or procedure of a medical nature • Injury sustained through employment during lifetime 

3. Legal Framework • The duty to notify also arises where: • The medical practitioner suspects the person’s death was unnatural but does not fall in the above categories  • The cause of death is unknown • The person died in custody or otherwise in state detention (this does not include DoLs (LPSs) unless the person additionally subject to custody) • There is no attending registered medical practitioner • The attending medical practitioner not available to sign the medical certificate cause of death within a reasonable time (five days) • The identity of the person is unknown, the death should also be reported to the police 

4. The notification requirement • A registered medical practitioner means a person on the General Medical Council’s list of Registered Medical Practitioners, who has a licence to practice. • It is anticipated that in practice, where available, it will be one of the attending medical practitioners who is qualified to complete the medical certificate cause of death (MCCD) who will be making the notification to the senior coroner. • A death may have already been reported to the coroner by a person other than a medical practitioner, such as a friend or family member of the deceased, or the police. Such reports will not usually include the information required at regulation 4(3) and (4),and may not provide the coroner with the full medical picture. • Therefore, even if a medical practitioner is aware that someone other than a medical practitioner has reported a death to the coroner, the registered medical practitioner should still make a notification under the Regulations.

5. Legal Framework • Information to be provided to the senior coroner (section 4)  • Where the death is clearly unnatural notification should be made to the senior coroner straight away. These can be made via email, web portal or other methods. Notification can be provided orally in exceptional circumstances and the medical practitioner must as soon as is practicable provide a written notification confirming the information

6. Legal Framework • Information to be provided to the senior coroner (section 4)  • The medical practitioner must provide the name of the next of kin and why it is deemed that the death should be notified providing a detailed explanation in narrative form with their GMC number. An investigation may not always be necessary and if not the coroner will issue a 100A form and refer the case back to the medical practitioner who can issue a medical certificate of cause of death.

7. Context • Up until now there was no statutory duty on doctors to report particular deaths to the coroner. These regulations impose a new legal duty on doctors to report deaths to the coroner in certain defined circumstances. These regulations provide clarification for doctors as to what their statutory duties actually are.

8. The Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019 • To access the full regulations go to: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2019/1112/made