
Medical Practitioners: Refer a death to the Coroner
If you’re a doctor, you should refer a death to the coroner if the following apply:
- You can’t state the likely cause of death
- You weren’t there when the deceased died
- You didn’t see the deceased within the 28 days before or after their death
- The cause of death isn’t natural
- The deceased was being detained, for example in police custody, when they died
Guidance on Death Reporting - 2019 regulations
- Notification of Death Regulations 2019
- Ministry of Justice guide to the regulations (PDF)
- Chief Coroner's guidance on death referrals (PDF)
- Stillbirths, fetal and neonatal deaths (PDF)
The Office of National Statistics has also issued guidance on the medical terms and definitions to be used and avoided when preparing a Medical Certificate as to Cause of Death.
To refer a death to the Coroner, please complete this GP referral form (Word document, 103kb).
Completed forms should be emailed to CoronersOffice@bradford.gov.uk.
If you do need to speak with a Coroners Officer about referring a death, please contact them on 01274 438800 or send an email to Coronerswest@westyorkshire.police.uk and they will arrange for someone to call you back.
Please make sure that you tell others in your team if you intend to refer a death to the Coroner, so they don’t issue an MCCD (medical certificate of cause of death) in the meantime.
Letting the family know
If you’re referring a death to the Coroner, or know that a death will be referred, please explain to the family:
- That you aren’t issuing the MCCD
- Why you aren’t issuing the MCCD
- That they can’t register the death at this time
- That you have referred the death to the Coroner
- A member of the Coroner’s staff will contact them in the coming days to explain what will happen next.