Deaths Associated with Medical Mishaps
1. Certain deaths associated with the provision of medical care must be reported to the Procurator Fiscal as being deaths associated with medical mishaps. These may result from acts of either negligent commission or omission on the part of medical or Para-medical staff, or may be associated with criminality. It is the duty of the Procurator Fiscal to enquire into all deaths associated with medical mishaps. Such deaths may fall into the following categories, which are not to be regarded as exhaustive:
a). Deaths which occur unexpectedly having regard to the clinical condition of the deceased prior to his receiving medical care
b). Deaths which are clinically unexplained
c). Deaths seemingly attributable to a therapeutic or diagnostic hazard
d). Deaths which are apparently associated with lack of medical care
e). Deaths which occur during the actual administration of general or local anaesthetic
f). Deaths which are considered to be clinically due to an anaesthetic (a good rule of thumb is to report all deaths occurring before the patient regains consciousness)
2. "Medical care" includes surgical, anaesthetic, nursing or any other kind of medical care and these deaths may be the result of medication (oral, parenteral, including inhalation) or of diagnostic or therapeutic procedures (e.g. operations, investigations, X-ray procedures).
3. Instructions have been given to hospitals, nursing homes and general practitioners, that when a patient dies in circumstances in which medical mishap is a possibility, the Procurator Fiscal must be informed without delay. The responsibility for notification lies with the doctor concerned in the care of the patient at the time of death. The Procurator Fiscal should ensure that he is notified by telephone or otherwise as soon as possible after the occurrence and as soon as practicable thereafter on Form F89, if not available on the ward this form can be obtained from the Medical Director's Office in the R.I.E.
NB Any involvement or possible involvement of defective medicinal products or equipment should also be reported.
