Coroners report/inquest

Meauldsegosha

Not sure if this is the right place so Mods please move if not appropriate.

My mam passed away in hospital nearly a month ago. I held her funeral and a couple of weeks later I registered her death. On Friday a Garda from my local station rang and told me I needed to make a statement for the Coroners Inquest. I was surprised at this and explained to him that my mam had been cremated and her death registered. No autopsy was conducted and on the death notification from provided by the hospital it stated the coroners office were happy for the medical team to certify her death. The Garda said he was given my name by a colleague and was following up to get a statement. So I arranged for him to call to my house yesterday to take the statement. About 30 mins before he was due to arrive he rang to say he was still waiting on information from the coroners office and he would contact me again. I asked him how long this would take and he said it could be a while and if I don't hear from him again it's because they have decided not to go ahead with the inquest.

Is this the usual procedure? Has anyone had a similar experience?

It is hard enough dealing with the death of a loved one, so I'm finding this not knowing situation distressing. My father passed away a number of years ago and I'm an only child so I'm the only one dealing with this.

Sorry for the long post.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Peregrinus

I'm very sorry that you are having to go through this, Meauldsegosha. Dealing with the death of your mother is bad enough without this.

It's unusual, but not wildly unusual. There's a wide range of deaths that have to be reported to the coroner - some of them because of the cause of death, some because of the place where the death occurred, some because of the status of the deceased person, some because of other circumstances. When a report is made, the coroner has to decide whether the death requires an inquest, and the purpose of the guard's enquiries is to enable the coroner to make that decision. That's evidently the stage they are at in your mother's post.

I don't know, obviously, why your mother's death has been reported. Even if it doesn't fall into any of the categories in the list linked above, the medical authorities can report a death if they think, e.g. that its circumstances have implications for public health or safety that ought to be considered.

If the guards can't give you any reassurance, the hospital authorities may at least be able to explain why your mother's death has been reported. And I don't think there's anything to stop you contacting the coroner's office directly to find out what is going on, and to make representation to them.

Meauldsegosha

Thanks for the replies.

It appears from the link above that mam's death would fit into no.5, she had a fall as a result of a stroke which led to further complications. I rang the Coroners Office earlier and spoke to a lovely man who explained that as a result of the fall her death had to be reported. Because of her other medical issues it's unlikely an inquest would be needed but I would need to give a statement as her next of kin so the report could be signed off.