Inquests in a nutshell

An inquest is a fact-finding investigation into a death when the coroner has reason to suspect:

1. the death was violent or unnatural;
2. the cause of death is unknown; and/or
3. the death was in state custody (this no longer includes DoLS but includes detention in hospital or prison).

The coroner is usually required to determine how the person came by their death.  However, in cases where the state arguably breached its obligation to protect the life of the deceased, the coroner is required to determine the wider circumstances (these are called Article 2 cases).   In practice, though, the coroner has a wide discretion as to the scope of an inquest in all cases.

Almost all cases are heard by a coroner sitting alone though some cases – such as those involving unnatural deaths in custody, deaths involving police contact or cases that are required to be reported to the HSE – are heard with a jury.

In all cases, where a coroner considers that preventative action should be taken to avoid future deaths in similar circumstances, the coroner must report to people s/he believes can take that action.  The reports are known as ‘regulation 28 reports’ or ‘prevent future death’ or ‘PFD’ reports.

Advice on draft statements

It is sensible to seek advice before sending any statements to a coroner.  Experienced advisors will anticipate the key issues and check the statements address them.   They will also routinely contact coroner’s officers to seek a steer from the coroner.

Generally, coroners will not issue regulation 28 reports if they are satisfied that sufficient remedial action has already been taken by the provider.  It follows that provides should always consider including remedial action in evidence provided to the coroner.  However, in some cases, particularly when there are open regulatory investigations, care must be taken not to make damaging admissions.

If statements are sufficiently detailed about the key issues and remedial action, that will reduce the chance that the witnesses will be called to give live evidence, and so reduce the risks and costs to the provider.

When to seek representation for the hearing

Representation is certainly not indicated for every inquest.  Where the provider is clearly not at fault, and no one has any concerns with the provider, representation is unlikely to be required.  Each case will turn on its own facts but the following are risk factors that suggest that legal representation should be considered:

1. The provider is given ‘interested person’ (or ‘IP’) status by the coroner. That suggests the coroner considers that the death may be due to an act or omission of the provider, or the coroner thinks the provider has sufficient interest in the case to be granted IP status, for example because others are critical of the provider.
2. The family have expressed concern about the care.
3. The family or other IPs are legally represented.
4. Press interest.
5. There is an outstanding investigation by the HSE, Local Authority and/or CQC.
6. The coroner has raised concerns about the provider previously.
7. Conflicts of evidence.
8. Internal and/or external investigations found shortfalls in the care provided.
9. Jury cases.

If in doubt, please contact me for an informal discussion.

Telephone: 0207 406 7532

Mobile: 07980 897 429

Email: [email protected]

For more information on inquests, see our inquests page here.

CQC’s new Facutal Accuracy Forms and Guidance

CQC’s new factual accuracy forms and guidance have been published and are available ­­­here:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/guidance-providers/how-we-inspect-regulate/factual-accuracy-check

CQC’s guidance states that the purpose of the factual accuracy process is to allow providers to tell CQC

• where information is factually incorrect; and
• where its evidence in the report may be incomplete.

The guidance states that CQC will not consider submissions about ratings ‘solely because you disagree with it’ (emphasis added).  It seems likely that CQC will only consider submissions based on factual errors but that remains to be seen.  I would continue to raise points about the appropriateness of ratings based on the ratings characteristics at the factual accuracy stage, both because rating reviews are rarely successful and because it gives providers two bites at the cherry at getting an improvement.  Arguably, CQC shoudl consider all relevant information when making decisions, which ought to include representations from providers.

CQC states that the process should not be used to challenge how an inspection was carried out.  That reflects current practice, but is somewhat artificial becuase the way an inspection was carried out and the reliability of the findings are inextricably linked.

CQC’s forms must be used (unless CQC gives permission to use another method in advance) though the forms are readily available on its website, so advisors can contribute as before.

Sensibly, the proposal for a word limit has effectively been scrapped.   Although there is a 975 character word limit per cell, CQC states “If you can’t make your point using one row, you can continue in the one below.”

As regards evidence, the form states

“for each point, you must specify exactly where we can find the information that supports your correction (you cannot hyperlink or embed it into this form)”. ­­

I would continue to forward supporting evidence with the form so that CQC can consider it when deciding whether or not to accept the correction. Note that CQC’s new guidance states:

“If you provide a document to support points, you must specify the page and paragraph number and highlight the relevant part of the document that relates to the point you are making. If this is not clear, the inspector will need to ask you for it and if you do not provide it, we may not consider this document further.”

A new development is that if CQC considers that providers have not submitted evidence to support a point, they will ask for it. That is welcome, though it is regrettable that the new guidance still fails to comply with the High Court judgment in the SSP case, which stated that if a provider had concerns with CQC’s reply to its factual accuracy response, the provider should have the opportunity of a review by someone within CQC who was not involved with the inspection.

In terms of timescales, the new guidance is clear that CQC will be stricter on enforcing a 10 working day time limit which will start to run from when the draft report is emailed to the provider.  Providers should ensure that the email address CQC holds for regulatory purposes is current and monitored regularly, particularly after inspections.

Finally, CQC has a separate form with additional sections for draft reports that are served with appendices and tables.  I have asked CQC for information as to when these will be used and will update this blog when I hear back.

Please get in touch if I can be of any assistance with factual accuracy submissions, CQC enforcement or other legal matters affecting your helathcare business.

Jonathan Landau, Barrister
5 Chancery Lane
London, WC2A 1LG
DX: 182
Telephone: 0207 406 7532
Mobile: 07980 897 429

Email: [email protected]

https://www.healthcarecounsel.co.uk/