§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what degree of information is received under cause of death on death certificates;
(2) if a person dies of multiple causes, what criteria are used to determine which 442W cause shall be placed on the death certificate.
§ Mr. MoyleThe medical certificate of cause of death prescribed by the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 for use by medical practitioners follows World Health Organisation recommendations in dividing the statement of cause of death into two parts. In the first part the certifier is asked to record the whole sequence of diseases or conditions which led directly to death. The second part provides for other significant conditions not directly involved in the causal sequence. Coroners' certificates normally record medical conditions in the same way, and violent conditions according to inquest findings. Mortality analysis by cause of death usually relate to a single cause—the "underlying" cause which started the fatal sequence.