Harriet Harman, Constitutional Affairs Minister yesterday announced a shake-up of the Coroners system in the UK.
The proposals come as a direct response to the ShipmanInquiry and the recommendations made by Dame Janet Smith in her seven reports.
In a speech to the House of Commons yesterday Ms Harman set out a number of changes which will be made to the Coroners system.
These include a chief coroner to be appointed to oversee the work of all coroners, relatives to be allowed the right to a second opinion on death certification, and all part-time coroners are to be abolished with a move to a system of full-time coroners, who will have to be legally qualified.
"There has been a notable lack of consultation between government and interested parties. These reforms have come very late in the game and don't reach far enough," said Ann Alexander who represented over 200 families of relatives of people murdered by Harold Shipman.
Ms Harman conceded that families were often overlooked during the inquest process. The new reforms will push the focus of the system onto the bereaved.
The reforms preceed the draft Coroners' Bill, due to bepublished in April.
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Not only did you handle the case with great professionalism, your sensitivity when dealing with us made the whole experience less traumatic than it might have been: Sarah, Hertfordshire
