Decision details

The Coroners and Justice Act 2009 places a duty on Coroners to investigate deaths that are referred to them if they have reason to think that:

·         The death was violent or unnatural;

·         The cause of death is unknown; or

·         The deceased died while in prison, police custody or another form of state detention e.g. where a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard Order (DoLS) is in place

In some cases the Coroner will order a PM to establish the cause of death. In these cases, bodies are taken to a pre-designated mortuary.  In 2016 of 1,973 deaths referred to the Senior Coroner for North West Kent, 750 required a PM (38% of deaths referred).

On behalf of the Senior Coroner, KCC ensures there is adequate storage capacity for Coroner’s bodies and that the Coroner has access to PM facilities.  KCC does not have its own public mortuary facility and so like many other coroner areas across England and Wales it has always used local NHS hospitals which have the necessary facilities for this purpose as there are no private sector providers of PM facilities anywhere in England and Wales.

Currently, post mortems for the Mid Kent & Medway coroner area are carried out by Medway NHS Trust at Medway Maritime Hospital.  The last contract expired on the 31^st March 2017 and a new four year contract has been agreed for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2021.

As Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services, I agree to award a four year contract for the provision of post mortem facilities for the Mid Kent & Medway coroner area