Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to reduce the time taken by doctors to issue medical certificates giving the cause of death following a death in hospital.

The Government is monitoring the impact of the death certification reforms, which came into legal effect on 9 September 2024, through the Death Certification Strategic Board and a cross-government data strategy group. Since the introduction of the reforms, the median time taken to register a death appears to have risen by two days, from seven days to nine days. This figure is for all deaths, as it includes those certified by a doctor and those investigated by a coroner. Working with the Office for National Statistics, weekly data is now published on the time taken to register a death by region and by setting. This is supporting NHS England and the Welsh Government to offer support and challenge.

The median time taken to register a death varies depending on the type of certification. Deaths certified by a doctor, that comprise approximately 80% of deaths registered each week, have typically had a median time to registration of seven days, though there can be variation at a local level. It is important to note that the medical examiner system was active on a non-statutory basis before the introduction of the statutory system on 9 September 2024, and this makes direct ‘before’ and ‘after’ comparisons challenging to draw conclusions from.

The introduction of medical examiners is in part about making sure deaths are properly described and about improving practice, but the impact on the bereaved is also central. The reforms aim to put the bereaved at centre of the process and the medical examiner office must offer a conversation with representatives of the deceased, so they can ask any questions they have about the death or raise concerns. Ensuring the system is appropriately resourced and works for all those who interact with it is crucial, and something we will continue to monitor with NHS England.