Medical Examiners and Death Certification

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Excerpts

Wednesday 18th October 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

The noble Lord is quite right to highlight this point. There have been calls for medical examiners since the Shipman inquiry; those were also endorsed following the inquiry into Mid-Staffordshire. Our intention is to ensure that, with planning time, the system can be introduced by April 2019, which is why the consultation and the regulations needed to underpin the planning for the system will be produced in short order.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, I chaired a foundation trust where we trialled the medical examiner role. I commend to the House the value of having a senior consultant able to talk to relatives about concerns, drawing the attention of fellow clinicians to issues relating to practice but, above all, safeguarding the public against tragic and appalling actions such as those taken by Harold Shipman. Does the Minister expect every part of the NHS to be covered by medical examiners by April 2019, or is that the start of the rollout? I hope that it can be extended throughout the NHS by that date.

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

The noble Lord is quite right to highlight the pilots; indeed, early adopters have followed in their wake and have provided a much better service. The intention from April 2019 is for the service to cover the entire country, but it is most likely to start in secondary care and then move out into primary and community care.