Page 116 - When Things Go Wrong

to advise family members concerned about the circumstances of a loved one’s
death to urgently seek specialist legal advice (para 3.37).

29. Where an inquest is opened, progress updates should be given to family
interested persons every three weeks, or by agreement at such interval as the
family interested party requests. Bereaved people should also be able to
nominate a lawyer or other advice or support worker to pass on the information
(para 3.40).

30. Where a coroner opens an inquest, or the Chief Coroner invokes the SPI,
bereaved people should be directed to an engaging, clear and professional
quality video on what to expect at an inquest (para 3.42).

31. Where a post-mortem is to take place, the coroner should notify all family
members whose details are known to the coroner’s office (para 3.43).

32. Post-mortem reports disclosed to family members should be concealed within
two envelopes, with a warning inside the outer envelope that the report may
contain distressing information (para 3.44).

Pre-Hearing Procedure

33. Local authorities and inquiry teams administrating inquests, special procedure
inquests and public inquiries should ensure that venue(s) for hearings are
chosen and designed in order to prioritise the needs of bereaved people and
survivors (para 4.25)

Public inquiries: laying the foundations

34. On the establishment of public inquiries, the Independent Advisory Board to
the Central Inquiries Unit should advise Government on the appointment of
inquiry chairs and panellists. The Board should make its nominations with
reference to clear, publicly accessible criteria, taking into account diversity of
representation (para 4.16).

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