Coroner autopsy crisis could hamper criminal investigations, surgeons warn
Criminal investigations could be hampered without action on issues affecting coroner-directed autopsy examinations. Locum pathologists are currently flying from the UK three days a week to carry out that service, which was previously conducted seven days a week.In the hard-hitting report, the pathology department warned: “Urgent, cohesive cross-department government action is needed, while there is still time, to avoid a situation where bereaved families are unable to access autopsy services in a timely manner, causing unnecessary suffering.” It called for a detailed review of current autopsy capacity to “inform workforce planning to develop a resilient service for families".
If hospitals are permitted to stop providing an autopsy service without ensuring that the workload is accommodated within the region, the capacity to provide this valuable end-of-care medical examination will no longer be readily available.
"Failure of the autopsy service and thereby the death investigation system, will cause profound distress to families bereaved by sudden, unexplained or unnatural death.” It also said the “current crisis” in the area will have a “direct impact on the national forensic autopsy service in relation to training and promotion of forensic pathology as a career, access to hospital mortuaries and necessary specialist expertise and ultimately on coronial and criminal investigations that will result in unnecessary trauma to bereaved families nationwide".The report noted that the Office of the State Pathologist does not have its own mortuary, so it relies on access to HSE and hospital mortuaries.“If the trend of hospitals ceasing to provide autopsy service continues, these mortuaries may become unavailable, and this will have a direct impact on coronial and criminal investigations.” Delays The report also said that an inability to provide histopathology training — where pathologists examine biopsies or surgical specimens — to doctors will result in “long-term difficulties recruiting Irish-trained autopsy pathologists and potentially result in delays to bereaved families”. It added that this would in turn lead to “notable reputational damage to the HSE in the future”, as the body is responsible for the registration of deaths.The report referenced the UK, highlighting that autopsy is “no longer a required component of training or consultant registration in histopathology, and there is now a shortage of pathologists providing autopsy services”. This has “led to delays in some areas of several weeks before an autopsy can be performed”. It warned that there would be “much less tolerance” for such delays in Ireland.
The Department of Justice has acknowledged that there were issues within the pathology profession generally, “including relating to training and recruitment, as well as competing demands on pathologists in areas of diagnostic and research work”.A standing committee on the provision of coroner-directed autopsy examinations was set up in 2022 by the Department of Justice to examine issues in the area.Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan responded to a recent parliamentary question in relation to the issues and said: “In October 2024, Government approval was given to draft a general scheme of a Bill to significantly reform the Coroner Service.” He said work is currently underway on the drafting legislation “with the aim of bringing this before Government in the coming months”.
