Dr Emma Davies, medicolegal consultant at Medical Protection, breaks down the new death certification reforms and what they mean for GP locums.
On 15 April the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State issued a statement (see references) advising that the new regulations which will underpin the changes to death certification were laid before government. This new legislation will come into force on 9 September and is titled The Medical Certificate of Cause of Death Regulations 2024. It can be accessed via the government website and all GP locums are encouraged to read it to ensure they fully understand their duties come this September.
The new regulations set out the legal requirement for all deaths to be subject to scrutiny by either a medical examiner or a coroner’s investigation. The requirements to refer to the coroner are unchanged and are outlined clearly in regulation 2 of the Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019. Therefore all deaths which are not referred to a coroner must be referred to a medical examiner service.
