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Clinicians and the coronial system: ability of clinicians to recognise reportable deaths
R D Start1, Y Delargy-Aziz, C P Dorries
1Department of Pathology, Sheffield University Medical School.
Objective:
To assess the ability of clinicians to recognise deaths which require referral to the coroner.
Design:
Postal questionnaire consisting of 16 fictitious case histories, 14 of which contained a clear indication for referral to the coroner.
Setting:
Large teaching hospital. Coroner's office.
Subjects:
200 clinicians from general medical and surgical firms and senior staff of the local coroner's office (two coroner's officers and the two deputy coroners).
Main Outcome Measures:
Number of correct assessments on questionnaire.
Results:
The mean recognition score for the clinicians was 9.11 (range 3-14) with no difference between the clinical grades. All of the coroner's senior staff recorded maximum recognition scores of 16.
Conclusions:
The study highlights several features of the coronial system which are poorly understood by clinicians and provides the basis for an initiative to improve the medicolegal education of all clinicians.