§ 16. Mr. ELLIS DAVIESasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the rule with regard to holding inquests on persons dying following an operation; whether inquests are confined to cases where the person dies under the operation; and, if so, whether he will consider the desirability of providing, in view of the increased number 2096 of operations, that inquests should be held in all cases where the person dies within, say, 24 hours of an operation?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir William Joynson-Hicks)Certain circumstances in which it is obligatory upon a coroner to hold an inquest are indicated in Section 3 (1) of the Coroners Act, 1887. It is for the coroner concerned to decide whether the obligation applies to any particular case. Registrars of Deaths have been advised by the Registrar-General that the attention of coroners should be called to any death which is shown by the certificate, or by information given, to have occurred under or in immediate connection with an operation, or before recovery from the effects of the anæsthetic, or after an operation necessitated by injury.