HC Deb 18 May 1999 vol 331 cc305-6W
Mr. John D. Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many post mortems were conducted in each of the last five years in Northern Ireland. [83935]

Mr. McFall

Information on the number of post mortems conducted in Northern Ireland during the latest years for which information is available is given in Tables 1 and 2.

Mr. Paul Murphy

Information is available only for date of death and date of registration. The figures are as follows:

Table 1: Number of post mortems conducted in Northern Ireland hospitals 1994–95 to 1997–98
Year Number of post mortems
1997–98 840
1996–97 1,029
1995–96 1,034
1994–95 984

Table 2: Number of post mortems conducted in the State Pathology Department 1994–98
Year Number of post mortems
1998 1,672
1997 1,525
1996 1,479
1995 1,524
1994 1,471

Mr. John D. Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans she has to allow hospital pathologists to conduct routine post mortems. [83938]

Mr. McFall

Hospital pathologists already perform routine post mortems as part of their work. In addition, they may perform post mortem examinations on patients who are the subject of a Coroner's investigation.