§ 7. Mr. Laneasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he is taking to improve the procedures under which doctors certify death.
§ Dr. John DunwoodyI would refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Brixton, (Mr. Lipton) on 1st December.—[Vol. 792, c. 203.]
§ Mr. LaneDoes the Under-Secretary accept that there is great public concern about recent cases where people were taken for dead and then found to be alive? Will he do everything possible with the Home Office to hasten the necessary tightening up of these procedures?
§ Dr. DunwoodyI agree that there has been concern about some recent cases. A committee has been looking into death certification and coroners' work. We hope that its report will be complete by the summer of next year. I think that we should await this report because it will cover the whole field, in particular the aspect about which the hon. Gentleman is concerned.