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UK coroner system faces backlogs and resource shortages, experts and families warn
Pathology shortages, backlogs, and adversarial hearings in England and Wales are driving calls for reform of the coronial court system.
The short version
- Legal experts, coroners, and families report that the coroner system in England and Wales is under severe strain due to case backlogs and lack of government funding.
- A shortage of pathologists—stems in part from a post-mortem fee frozen at £96.80 for over a decade—is causing delays of up to a year for post-mortems in some areas.
- Most families must navigate increasingly complex and adversarial inquests without state-funded legal aid, while public and private institutions retain legal teams.
- The Ministry of Justice acknowledged the shortage of pathologists and noted it is considering measures to strengthen oversight for preventing future deaths.
Key facts
- Nearly 148,000 deaths were reported to coroners in England and Wales last year, with almost a quarter leading to an inquest.[BBC News]
- Coroners order post-mortems for 51% of reported deaths, but shortage-driven delays reach up to a year in certain coronial districts.[BBC News]
- The basic fee paid to pathologists for performing a coroner's post-mortem is £96.80, a figure unchanged for more than ten years.[BBC News]
- Only a small minority of families receive legal representation during the approximately 36,000 annual inquests due to legal aid constraints.[BBC News]
- Coroners have issued approximately 6,500 Prevention of Future Deaths reports since 2013, though coroners lack the power to enforce or monitor compliance with their recommendations.[BBC News]
What remains uncertain
- It is unverified whether and how frequently organizations adopt recommendations outlined in Prevention of Future Deaths reports due to a lack of formal tracking.[BBC News]
Sources
- The grieving family who says the coroner's courts aren't workingBBC News - Top Stories