BMJ  2004;328:406 (14 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7436.406-a

Letter

Payment for coroners' postmortem examinations

... and not part of the equation

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

EDITOR—Alcolado in his letter describes a consultant pathologist insisting that a case be referred to the coroner for an autopsy, and he implies that this was for financial gain (which, from his account, seems possible).1

Such behaviour by any of the six consultants in my department would be completely unacceptable, and I am sure that most histopathologists in the United Kingdom would agree. His suggestion that financial gain be taken out of the equation could perhaps be applied to many fields of medicine, although the new contract would imply that this is not current policy.

I would gladly stop doing my extracontractual coroners' work and forgo the comparatively small income derived from it. We have recently turned down the offer of an increase in this work, despite what Alcolado views as the "substantial payment" offered.

Simon Rose, consultant histopathologist

Royal United Hospital, Bath BA1 3NR simon.rose@ruh-bath.swest.nhs.uk

Competing interests: SR performs coronial autopsies.

  1. Alcolado JC. Death of the teaching autopsy: hospital and coroners' postmortem examinations are different, not least in payment. BMJ 2004;328: 165. (17 January.)[Free Full Text]

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Relevant Article

Death of the teaching autopsy: Autopsy findings are important to all clinicians, including general practitioners
Brian S Hurwitz and Berry Beaumont
BMJ 2004 328: 165. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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