Coroner's Investigations And Assisted Dying: A Missing Safeguard

When the Assisted Dying Bill is reviewed in the House of Lords this autumn a key question will be whether to amend the provision excluding assisted deaths from automatic coroner's investigation.

The concern is that coroner's inquests would cause unnecessary delay and distress for bereaved families. As Kim Leadbeater put it: "These are not unexpected deaths; sadly, they were inevitable." However, family members will not always be informed in advance of an assisted death, and without formal scrutiny, some deaths could appear unexplained.

Proponents of the Bill consider that assisted deaths would be adequately scrutinised in advance, principally through patient declarations, assessments by doctors, and oversight from a multidisciplinary panel. Additionally, as Ms Leadbeater has pointed out, "anyone can report a death—including an assisted death—to the coroner, or indeed to the police, if they have any concerns that it was not carried out in accordance with the Act,