Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of assessments undertaken by medical examiners to establish causes of death.

The Government is monitoring the impact of the death certification reforms which came into legal effect on 9 September 2024. Medical examiner offices are staffed at a trust level with oversight and guidance from the National Medical Examiner based in NHS England. The National Medical Examiner publishes standards of performance that medical examiners are expected to meet in exercising their functions. To become a medical examiner, a qualifying medical practitioner should undertake relevant training including e-learning and face to face training and continuing professional development. While the Government has not made its own assessment of the adequacy of assessments undertaken by medical examiners to establish causes of death, the National Medical Examiner must publish an annual report which would include the way in which medical examiners had exercised their functions, including in relation to standards of performance.