STATISTICS

Statistics on Deaths Reported to Coroners, England and Wales, In 2012

Statistics on Deaths Reported to Coroners, England and Wales, In 2012

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the increase of 1,477 in the category of “Unclassified verdicts”, over the past few years. To examine this rise, two independent assessors analyzed a randomly selected sample of 2,196 “Unclassified verdicts” that had been recorded between the years 2007 to 2011. The analysis of these assessors indicated that they tend to have a substantial level of agreement (Kappa coefficient of 0.61). However, owing to the rigid guidance for defining the verdicts, some disagreements between the assessors arose, regarding their correct classification. The hypothesis of the study included the exploration of the assumption that suicide verdicts are 'hidden' within the “Unclassified verdicts” category. Also, it examined the scope for the introduction of a new short-form category of “Medical or surgical intervention unsuccessful”, which approximately accounts for 25 percent of the total verdicts. The results of the study concluded that the overall percentage of “Could indicate suicide” verdicts within the category of “Unclassified verdicts” was almost six percent.

Introduction

In England and Wales, the coroners are responsible for submitting a statistical return to the Ministry of Justice, by the end of every year. These coroners are responsible for providing a detail of all of the “Unclassified verdicts” that they record in the form of a supplementary sheet, which is to be submitted as part of their annual return. However, in some instances, it is not provided and in some cases, is provided in a form that provides sufficient details for the explanation of the cause of death.

According to various studies it has been observed that the ratio of “Unclassified verdicts” returned at inquests has maintained an increasing trend, since the year 2000. Across the time period of the year 2007 to 2011, their number and the percentage has moved from 2,923 (11 per cent of total verdicts to 4,400 (15 per cent of total verdicts).

The various categories of “Unclassified verdicts” that are used for grouping the various verdicts include the categories of; Could indicate suicide, Indicates alcohol abuse, Medical or surgical intervention unsuccessful, Error, Correct and the category of Unknown. In this report, the category of “Unclassified verdicts” that has been examined in detail is the second and third categories as they are most relevant to the theme under examination. Other categories, such as the category of “Error” included any verdict that had been incorrectly classified in the “Unclassified verdicts” category. Whereas, the categories of “Correct” and “Unknown” included those verdicts which could not be categorized as any other and those that missed the adequate amount of information, respectively.

In addition, the mentioned categories of “Unclassified verdicts”, another category related to narrative verdicts was also utilized. This group comprised of those verdicts for which a factual description related to the how and why of the occurrence of death was recorded, by the end of the inquest, as an alternative to the conventional short-form verdict (Ministry of ...