The number of inquests and cases requiring a coroner’s investigation has dropped 15% from 30,000 to 25,000 in the past year.
This may be due to coroners conducting more preliminary inquiries in the early stages to decide whether there is a need to investigate, according to the Chief Coroner, Judge Peter Thornton QC’s ’s annual report to the Lord Chancellor.
However, “extensive extra work” for coroners has been caused by local authorities increasingly using Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) to restrict the liberty of residents of care homes or in hospitals, usually the elderly suffering from dementia. The number of DoLS has risen at least eightfold in the past year, and the Law Commission is currently considering the impact of this on the coroner service, and will shortly propose law changes.
The Chief Coroner also expressed concern about the “particularly high” levels of self-inflicted deaths in custody.
Coroners have reduced the backlog of cases in the past year, with the number of cases still uncompleted after 12 months reduced from 2,673 to 1,467 (or less than one per cent of all deaths referred).
This was the second annual report since the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 ushered in reform across the coroner service.
