Referring to the Medical Examiner and the Death certification process

Referral to a coroner is still required for deaths which are sudden, unnatural or violent or deaths in state detention (this includes deaths of those with a community treatment order (CTO) under the Mental Health Act who have been recalled to hospital). The process for coronial referral is detailed in the Trust policy on ‘death of a service user’ (SD02).

Community based patients

For community based deaths that do not require referral to a coroner, a GP can propose a cause of death to the medical examiner if they have attended the deceased in their lifetime. Families should be informed of the ME scrutiny as part of bereavement advice following a death. Rarely, the ME may request access to our notes as part of their scrutiny, this will be managed via the Patient Safety and healthcare records teams.

Mersey Care inpatients

For Mersey Care inpatient deaths that do not require referral to a coroner, the most senior medical practitioner present who has attended the deceased in their lifetime may propose a cause of death.

They should follow the standard procedures around verification of death and compete the prospective cause of death on an attending practitioner Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD).

The new certificates have been located in key inpatient locations. You can access the death certificate booklet from your nearest key location:

The senior attending practitioner must also complete other details on a referral form to be sent to the ME based in the area in which the death took place.

As well as sending a copy of the prospective MCCD and the referral form to the relevant ME, this must also be copied to the Patient Safety team who are supporting the process – send a copy of the email sent to the ME to medical.examiner@merseycare.nhs.uk