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Coroners and Justice Bill

Noble Lords have stressed the importance of the medical examiners, who will ensure independent scrutiny and confirmation of medical certificates of the cause of death and provide general medical advice to the coroner. My simple amendment, Amendment 63A, requires medical examiners to liaise with the clinical governance teams in primary care trusts and local health boards to ensure that patterns or clusters of deaths are identified and shared with the relevant teams at local level. I should point out that my amendment does not say "may" or "shall"; it says "must". I recognise that the Department of Health has indicated in other places that medical examiners will in practice forge close links with clinical governance teams. However, it is important for that to be explicitly reflected in the Bill, not least because it would send a strong message to the public that lessons from, for example, the Harold Shipman inquiry, to which the noble Lord, Lord Alton, referred extensively, have been learnt. It would also show an absolute commitment by everyone involved in this area that problems will be identified and lessons learnt from deaths where that is possible. Further, this amendment will clarify the scope of the responsibility medical examiners will have in relation to clinical governance.