Current status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 11 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29907 by Dorothy Bain on 26 September 2024, how many contracts and service level agreements for pathology and mortuary services the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has; whether all contracts and service level agreements require pathologists to meet with the nearest relatives if they wish to discuss the post mortem examination findings; what training pathologists are given to ensure that, when they meet with the nearest relatives to discuss the post mortem examination findings, information is provided “in a respectful and sensitive manner”; what checks are in place to ensure that (a) pathology training standards are maintained and (b) practitioners are kept up to date with best practice; which organisation oversees training standards in pathology and their uniformity across Scotland; what the terms of reference are for the Death Investigation Improvement Board, and who the members are; what plans COPFS has to engage with service users, regarding reported experiences of service delivery, to inform the Death Investigation Improvement Board; what the current metrics in Scotland show in relation to the experiences reported in the independent review of the forensic pathology response to the Hillsborough disaster, and what metrics are planned to enable (i) comparable and (ii) more accurate measurement of performance in Scotland compared with (A) that reported in the independent review of the forensic pathology response to the Hillsborough disaster and (B) international best practice.
COPFS has 16 contracts and service level agreements in place for pathology mortuary and toxicology services across Scotland.
All pathology agreements require pathologists to discuss post mortem findings with bereaved relatives if requested. Their assistance is invaluable to relatives seeking to understand the circumstances of their loved one’s death and is greatly appreciated by COPFS.
All doctors receive undergraduate medical school education in patient communication. This continues into forensic pathology training and consultancy when meeting with families to discuss post mortem findings. All doctors are expected to work within the standards set out by the General Medical Council for good medical practice.
The Royal College of Pathologists and NHS Education for Scotland oversee training standards in pathology and their uniformity across Scotland.
The purpose of the Death Investigation Improvement Board is to take forward three key areas for improvement in the death investigation system – (i) raising public awareness of the death investigation service, sharing lessons learned to reduce the incidence of avoidable deaths, (ii) providing bereaved relatives with the timeous provision of information they need to ensure they can effectively participate in the process and (iii) reducing the journey time for concluding death investigations, including FAIs.
The Board is chaired by the Deputy Crown Agent, Specialist Casework and its membership has representatives from each of the specialist death investigation units, Communications and Business Management.
The Board has a number of ongoing workstreams, including the creation of a Lived Experience Advisory Panel to enable participants with experience of the death investigation process to help inform improvements to the process by providing independent advice to the Board on issues such as the provision of information to relatives.
COPFS regularly meets and engages with pathology providers on a range of issues, including communication with bereaved relatives. These also allow discussion on any feedback received. Consideration is being given to the terms of the review and any further appropriate measures to be put in place.