A Coroner is responsible for finding out how and why someone has died. If this is complicated there may be a court case.
This page tells you how to get in touch with a the Coroner.
In some instances there is a legal requirement for the doctor to refer a death to the Coroner.
The Coroner enquires into those deaths reported to them. It is their duty to find out the medical cause of death, if it is known, and to enquire about the cause of death if it was due to violence or was otherwise unnatural.
Not all deaths are reported to the coroner. In most cases the doctor who had been treating the deceased is able to give a cause of death. Deaths are reported to the Coroner by the police or by the doctor who had been treating the deceased. The death will be reported to the Coroner if it resulted from or occurred in any of these circumstances:
- The death was violent or unnatural or occurred under suspicious circumstances
- The cause of death is unknown or uncertain
- The deceased was not attended by a doctor during their last illness
- The doctor treating the deceased had not seen them 14 days before their death
- The death was caused by an industrial disease/accident
- The death occurred whilst the patient was undergoing an operation or did not recover from the anaesthetic
- The death occurred within 24 hours of admission to hospital
- If the deceased had suffered a recent fall
- The death was the result of a road traffic accident.
Everything will be done to ensure that this process is carried out quickly and observes religious and cultural traditions.
If the death was not due to natural causes the Coroner will hold an inquest but they can usually issue a death certificate so that burial or cremations can take place before the inquest.
For further information regarding coroner’s procedures you can contact the Coroner’s office which is open Monday to Friday, 8.30am-4.15pm and is located at:
H.M Coroner for Liverpool and Wirral
Gerard Majella Courthouse
Boundary Street
Liverpool
L5 2QD
Tel: 0151 225 5770
E-mail: coroner@liverpool.gov.uk
Website: http://www.gov.uk
Coroners Court Support Service
Website: http://www.coronerscourtsupportservice.org.uk