The sudden and unexpected death of a patient can be emotionally complex and overwhelming for clinicians. This book will equip medical and other healthcare professionals with the necessary information and skills to fulfil their requirements in the coroner's court confidently and competently and understand their organisation's responsibilities. Practical and straightforward, this book aims to make the unfamiliar territory of the coroner's court transparent, enabling clinicians to negotiate all eventualities. It will provide clinicians with the confidence to turn what can feel like an adversarial situation into an opportunity to engage with an important part of the healthcare system, preventing future deaths and providing understanding to relatives. It also explores the underlying necessity of complying with requirements and suggests ways to cope with the emotional impact. With chapters covering expert witnesses, legal perspectives and managing outcomes, this book is essential for any healthcare professional called to an inquest.
'Healthcare professionals called to give evidence in coroners' inquests may find the anticipation and the reality daunting. This guide demystifies and explains the process and offers reassurance and practical advice to minimise clinicians' concerns and ensure that their understanding of their duties and responsibilities to the court are clear and unambiguous.'
Jason Payne-James, Specialist in Forensic & Legal Medicine and Consultant Forensic Physician; Lead Medical Examiner, Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital
'I read A Clinician's Brief Guide to the Coroner's Court and Inquests with interest. I have attended the coroner's court several times over my medical career, with varying amounts of support and guidance. I do wish my 28-year-old self had had access to such a useful real-world guide, written with such practicality and humanity. The court is complex, serving the law, the bereaved families, and future patients in terms of lessons learned. The guide takes you through this with expert contributors in a way that is both readable and clear, and would make the experience better for all potential professional attendees, and help them to serve the multilayered mission of the court to families, the law and future users of our health services. It will be a useful reference for health professionals for years to come and fills an important gap in the literature.'
Chris Streather, Regional Medical Director NHSE London
‘Sometimes a new book arrives, and one wonders how we possibly managed without it. This is such a book. Being called to give evidence at an inquest can be a daunting experience, particularly if this results from the death of a patient and the turbulent slipstream of emotion that inevitably follows such a tragedy. This book opens the lid on the coroner’s court, providing a practical and useful guide to the processes and requirements therein, and equipping the clinician called to court with useful skills and information necessary to traverse this landscape successfully.’
Dr Duncan Harding, Editor and Royal College of Psychiatrists Expert Witness Lead
Dr Gabrielle Pendlebury MBBS MSc MRCPsych LLM is a child and adolescent psychiatrist. She has extensive experience of working with children and adolescents. Her training was undertaken at St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London Medical School, London and the Maudsley and Bethlem Hospitals.
GMC: 4763653
Member of Royal College of Psychiatrists, CCT Child and Adolescent Psychiatry