Genealogy Chat

Vicky Dad died in 2000. We asked his GP to explain the cause of death to us and he struggled - said it meant that he had been 'overcome' by a massive infection, causing all his organs to fail. My cousin is a nurse and took a copy of the Death Cert, to ask a Consultant the same question. He also said it was a massive infection. I phoned the hospital as I wanted to know what the 'infection' was (this was long after the funeral though) and they were very kind and helpful, but it was still 'massive infection' of unknown origin. I spoke to my Dad on the phone 2 days before he died - he was his usual bouncy self and had been cutting back trees all day. He did not mention feeling ill (and he was a terrible hypochondriac, so definitely would have). Even his GP remarked to me that he had seen Dad on the same day I phoned him, doing his daily five mile walk. I dont suppose I will ever find out now but it still bothers me - what kind of infection strikes so quickly? And why can no one give it a name? OC

Hi Marj, Sorry I didn’t get back to you last night. Usually, a death will be reported to the Coroner BEFORE the death certificate is issued if the death was sudden, or unexpected, violent or unnatural, occurred during an operation, was due to an industrial disease, or when no doctor has treated the deceased during his or her last illness. The Coroner decides whether a PM is necessary to establish the actual medical reasons for the death. Depending on the findings, an inquest may then be held. The coroner will usually only call an inquest when the death was NOT due to “natural causes” . However, I think this term is misleading. It generally means a defined medical condition or illness not brought about by artificial means, accident, violence or the intervention of a third party. It obviously does not explain illnesses of sudden and uncertain onset. In your father’s case, it would appear that the death was attributed to “Natural causes”. Presumably there was no suggestion of mistreatment or neglect by the hospital, and no public health or safety issues. I am sorry you may never know the true nature of the illness. I can understand the need for answers when a death is unexpected. In my case, my dad died in 2003, and at the time I felt that lack of attention by his GP had contributed to his death. After a long discussion with the Coroner (AFTER the death had been registered), we decided that a PM was not necessary as the actual cause of death was not in dispute (he died in hospital 12 hours after being admitted). I was advised to seek a statement of facts from the Primary Care Trust and then he would make a decision as to whether an inquest was necessary. In the event the matter was dropped, & I still have a basic distrust of doctors when it comes to covering their own backs.

Just to clarify, if anyone else has been following this You can have a postmortem without an inquest. You can have an inquest without a postmortem.

Thankyou for that explanation Vicky. In fact Dad did die in hospital. I too felt that there had been a lack of 'taking it seriously' by the medical profession until it was too late - I was not present at his death because of this, having been told six hours before he died that he was fine, and would be home tomorrow. Like you, I felt that everyone was very busy covering their backs. I dropped it eventually because I could see there was nowhere to go with it, no one was going to admit to anything. This followed a very similar scenario, same hospital, when my mother died with an undiagnosed heart attack, for gods sake. Dad tried to pursue this but again we got nowhere and eventually dropped it after the hospital blamed a junior doctor. Yes, I basically distrust the medical profession too - why cant they ever just come out and say they muffed it? We werent after money, we just wanted to know what had happened and why. OC

nudge

Thanks to Snowdrop for nudging this thread for me. My grandfather was a serving sergent with the Green Howards in Richmond North Yorkshire 1940. His death certificate said that there was a PM and then an inquest after his death at the militiary Hospital. I have e-mailed my Archives department at York because the Coroner was from York. I took the chance and e-mailed York Archives on the off chance they may have something on the death. They have e-mailed back today asking for more info and my postal address. Earlier this year they found newspaper reports on my Great great grandfathers death in 1880. Look at the death certificates of your rellies. If there was an inquest ask!!! You will find that 9 times out of 10 the records are where the coroner came from. Vanessa

NUDGE