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Inquests are carried out to discover how, when and where a person died. Coroners are responsible for carrying out inquests and they are normally assisted by a pathologist who will carry out a post mortem examination.
An inquest is a public hearing and is usually held when the cause of death is not clear or when the death appears to be suspicious. For example an inquest may be held after a fatal accident at work, when a person has died after contracting an industrial illness or when clinical negligence is suspected.
Most inquests are held without a jury and the coroner uses his / her own discretion to decide who may participate in the hearing. Spouses, parents and personal representatives such as solicitors qualify as being ‘interested parties’ and are entitled to attend the inquest and question the witnesses.
Inquests are useful for highlighting any lack of care or negligent treatment suffered by the deceased. The medical team who treated the client will be asked to give evidence at the inquest either in person or via a written statement and as mentioned above, the deceased’s family or solicitors will be able to cross-examine the medical team.
It is very important that if lack of medical care or clinical negligence is suspected before the inquest, the family of the deceased should be represented by a solicitor experienced not only in dealing with clinical negligence claims but also experienced in attending inquests.
Following the Shipman Inquiry and the European Convention on Human Rights the inquest system was deemed to need an overhaul and a draft bill was published by The Department of Constitutional Affairs on 6th June 2006.
The basic idea of the bill is to allow the deceased’s family to contribute to the coroner’s investigations to a greater extent and to provide coroners with more support, advice and powers to ensure a more thorough investigation takes place. The bill is scheduled to come into force in 2009 or 2010.
If you or anyone you know has suffered from any form of clinical negligence, telephone us now for accurate claim advice.
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Thompsons Solicitors are experts in all matters relating to clinical negligence and will be able to advise you as to whether or not you have a valid compensation claim.
Their specialist clinical negligence lawyers will be happy to talk you through the process of making a claim in plain English and will be happy to answer any questions or queries you may have.
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