Payment for coroners' postmortem examinations

Editor—Alcolado remembers as a house officer requesting a postmortem examination and being forced to make it a coroner's at the request of a pathologist.¹

Firstly, let me make it clear that nobody can force someone to make a death into a coroner's post mortem if a cause of death is established. The doctor simply signs the death certificate to this effect. I know of no pathologist who can bend the ear of the coroner to this extent—rather the opposite. In my experience, cases are often not referred to the coroner that should be, such as postoperative deaths.

Secondly, the idea that the pathologist receives “a substantial payment” for each coroner's post mortem is laughable. I get £78 for each postmortem case I do, and this often involves four to six hours of work because I deal with complex postoperative deaths that usually require detailed examination and histology. The BMA is looking into the fees for coroners' autopsies and campaigning for a substantial increase. The pathologist who forced Alcolado to turn a case into a coroner's post mortem must have been desperate to waste his or her precious time for £78.

Finally, all coroners' cases in my hospital are actively used for teaching and audit purposes.