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In 1987 you published a letter from me expressing concern about the implications of general practitioners reporting cases of sudden death to the coroner’s office, where the deceased had not been seen in the preceding fortnight.[1] This will lead immediately to a home visit by police officers and distressing lengthy questioning.
Many years later my own husband aged 83, died suddenly at home having been ill for several years. He had been receiving regular medical care but had not been seen for over a fortnight. Within an hour two policemen, accompanied by two trainees arrived at my house, viewed his body, and proceeded to question my children and myself. Several of my friends have had the same experience. With the increasing frequency of long-standing treated diseases in the elderly such events must be becoming more frequent.
I have no complaints about the behaviour of the police, who are usually deeply embarrassed and very kind, but their very presence at such a time feels threatening. The advice given by the BMA to their members in cases of sudden death is shown below:
“As a citizen, a doctor has an obligation to inform the police if he or she becomes aware of a serious crime but English law, contrary to popular belief, does not, at present, place an obligation upon a doctor to report all sudden deaths to the coroner. In practice, the wise practitioner will report a sudden death to the coroner, normally through the agency of the local police.”
The only benefit of the practice that I can see is to protect the General Practitioner from a suspicion that they have missed an un-natural death. Do we know how often ‘serious crime’ has been uncovered by such visits from the police, especially in cases of sudden deaths in the elderly? Do we know the frequency, or the cost, of these visits? Has anyone looked into the effect on the relatives of experiencing such visits or the effect on the subsequent registered causes of death?
I suggest that the time has come to look into these questions, and to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to continue unchanged what is certainly a distressing experience for bereaved families.
(1) Alberman, E. Coping with sudden death . 1987, Brit Med J: 294, 1484.
Dealing with sudden death
Sir,
In 1987 you published a letter from me expressing concern about the implications of general practitioners reporting cases of sudden death to the coroner’s office, where the deceased had not been seen in the preceding fortnight.[1] This will lead immediately to a home visit by police officers and distressing lengthy questioning.
Many years later my own husband aged 83, died suddenly at home having been ill for several years. He had been receiving regular medical care but had not been seen for over a fortnight. Within an hour two policemen, accompanied by two trainees arrived at my house, viewed his body, and proceeded to question my children and myself. Several of my friends have had the same experience. With the increasing frequency of long-standing treated diseases in the elderly such events must be becoming more frequent.
I have no complaints about the behaviour of the police, who are usually deeply embarrassed and very kind, but their very presence at such a time feels threatening. The advice given by the BMA to their members in cases of sudden death is shown below:
“As a citizen, a doctor has an obligation to inform the police if he or she becomes aware of a serious crime but English law, contrary to popular belief, does not, at present, place an obligation upon a doctor to report all sudden deaths to the coroner. In practice, the wise practitioner will report a sudden death to the coroner, normally through the agency of the local police.”
The only benefit of the practice that I can see is to protect the General Practitioner from a suspicion that they have missed an un-natural death. Do we know how often ‘serious crime’ has been uncovered by such visits from the police, especially in cases of sudden deaths in the elderly? Do we know the frequency, or the cost, of these visits? Has anyone looked into the effect on the relatives of experiencing such visits or the effect on the subsequent registered causes of death?
I suggest that the time has come to look into these questions, and to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to continue unchanged what is certainly a distressing experience for bereaved families.
(1) Alberman, E. Coping with sudden death . 1987, Brit Med J: 294, 1484.
Competing interests: No competing interests