A three-year study called Voicing Loss, conducted by Birkbeck, University of London, and the University of Bath, has investigated the experiences of people involved in the inquest process.
An inquest is an investigation which is carried out by the coroner into the circumstances of a person’s death. An inquest can be a very stressful experience for families of loved ones who have died.
The role of the coroner is to establish:
- Who has died.
- When the person died.
- Where the death occurred.
- How the person came about their death.
An inquest is different from any other court process. The aim of an inquest is to answer the above questions and it is not the role of the coroner to apportion blame. The coroner can however take up matters with the relevant authority to ensure that the same mistakes are not repeated. This is called a prevention of future deaths report.
The Voicing Loss study is the largest of its kind and involved interviews with bereaved people, coroners, coroners’ officers and lawyers, and professional witnesses including police officers and prison staff.
Of the bereaved people interviewed, most felt that the inquest process had let them down and that it had failed to deliver what they believed it should.
The coroners and coroners’ officers interviewed acknowledged that the process risked disappointing bereaved people, but it was not clear whether this is due to them not being properly informed about the inquest process and so having unrealistic expectations of what it can provide, or because of systemic imbalances within the process.
One of the main sources of “profound frustration and disappointment” for many of the bereaved people involved in the study was a feeling that little was being done to help prevent future deaths, even where problems had been identified.
The study reported that the coronial service is “under-resourced and overstretched”, but the workload is increasing. This is creating an increasingly challenging environment for coroners.
Being involved in an inquest about the death of a loved one will never be easy, but can improvements be made to help increase understanding of what can be expected and to support bereaved people through the process?
The researchers who conducted the study suggested that the role of a coroner should be clarified, particularly surrounding recommendations to prevent future deaths. Communication with bereaved people must be improved and they must have access to clear, concise and practical information about the inquest process. Most importantly, communication must always be kind, compassionate, and respectful.
If you want to learn more about the Voicing Loss study, follow this link – https://voicing-loss.icpr.org.uk/
We specialise in representing people at inquests. Read more on our inquests page – https://moosaduke.com/inquests/
Please contact us for a no-obligation consultation if you are concerned that the death of your loved one was due to medical negligence or if you have been informed that the coroner will conduct an inquest into their death.