coroner

Ofsted says inspection not to blame for headteacher’s death

On 8 January 2023, Ruth Perry, the headteacher of Caversham Primary School in Reading, took her own life after being told that the school had been downgraded from Outstanding to Inadequate following an Ofsted inspection. Ms Perry’s family has previously blamed the Ofsted inspection for her death, and they are calling for an inquiry into …

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COVID-19 as an Industrial Disease – Have the Floodgates Opened for Claims Against Providers?

As many will be aware, a Welsh Senior Coroner recently ruled that the deaths of two nurses were caused by COVID-19 and it was an industrial disease. Graeme Hughes, the senior coroner, said that “it was more likely than not” that the nurses were “exposed to Covid-19 infection at work, became infected” and that the …

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Facing An Inquest: What Does This Mean And What Risk Does It Pose To My Business?

Health and social care providers are all too aware of the possibility of a service user dying in their care, but how prepared are you for the inquest that may follow? What might initially appear to be a routine death can quickly develop into a lengthy and complex inquiry. This can be a difficult and …

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Coroner’s Inquests – A Salutary Reminder For All Decision Makers

Within the recent case of ‘An application by Patricia Downey for Judicial Review’ [2022] NICA 67, the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland determined that a Coroner had demonstrated bias and prematurely predetermined the engagement of Article 2 before the commencement of an inquest. Background By way of background, Ms Downey’s daughter died in 2017 …

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Death of a service user? What Providers should consider if called to an Inquest

Many health and social care Providers will have had some form of contact with the Coroner’s court, whether it be simply assisting the Coroner with the provision of documentation related to the death of someone who was using or had used their services or attending an Inquest hearing. By their very nature inquests are inquisitorial …

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How preparing for an Inquest may actually prevent a ‘Prevention of Future Deaths’ Report

Given the nature of their work, a large number of health and social care providers will at some point become involved in an inquest. The Coroners’ Courts have adjourned a lot of inquests because of COVID-19 restrictions but we expect them to start getting pretty busy over the coming months, trying to deal with the …

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COVID-19 – Further guidance from the Chief Coroner for England & Wales regarding inquests

Further to my last update regarding inquests, the Chief Coroner for England and Wales has issued further guidance in relation to the COVID-19 situation. This article summarises the main points from the guidance. Chief Coroner Guidance No.34 (dated 26 March 2020) This guidance note acknowledges that the COVID-19 emergency presents a number of challenges for …

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The Chief Coroner for England and Wales issues advice to senior coroners on upcoming inquests

Today, the Chief Coroner of England and Wales has issued some guidance to coroners regarding the COVID-19 situation. The guidance explains that because coroners’ workloads have the potential to increase significantly in the coming weeks and months, it may mean that inquests will need to be adjourned. The Chief Coroner has therefore issued the following …

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