Inquest

[plymouthmaid]

My amazing Mum died nearly a year ago and we are still waiting for the date of the inquest into her death. As a family we are becoming increasingly distressed by the delay and are unsure as to what to expect when the inquest finally happens. Does anybody have any experience of the process and what can we expect.
Thanks

we had same with my lovely step mother.the wait was awful so you have my sympathy.
im sure theyre all different but we(family) went and there was 5 police officers , about 3 medical people(toxicology etc) and the paramedics, not sure who else. they each made statements and answered questions, family members that had given statements at the time were asked to read out statements or if unable to have someone else read on their behalf. it went on for 2 days.
tbh i blocked a lot of it out but some bits werent as bad as id thought. it was almost a relief that it was over like we could finally put her to rest.
hope youre ok,sorry for your loss.

Thankyou.You're so right the wait is exhausting and it just seems that the whole process is never ending. trying to adjust to life without Mum is so hard but having this hanging over us is almost stopping us from being able to put her to rest exactly as you said.
It's a year ago tomorrow that I spoke to my Mum for the last time before she was taken into hospital and was sedated until she died three weeks later. I feel so empty and the sense of loss seems to increase daily.Sorry for going on but I just feel so alone even though I have such a wonderful and supportive family. I miss her so much.

dont be sorry for talking about it.
were also a big family but completly get the lonelyness.
do you have any professional support?family liason etc?not that they were much help for us but were there to keep calling to try to find out why everything was dragging on for so long.

hi there, we are going through the same process at the moment, but for our little girl...

The inquest is designed to provide answers about the cause of death, and as the family, you have the right to put forward all the questions which you would like answered. You also have the right to put forward any witness statements or other information that you think might be useful, although the coroner is not obliged to use it if it is deemed irrelevant. You also should be given a copy of every piece of information that the coroner's office has collected, or intends to collect. If you do not think this information is sufficient, you should say so.

You should have your own coroner's officer who is responsible for your mother's inquest, and you have every right to ring up the coroner's officer and ask them directly what is going on, and email them with your concerns about the delay, especially if there doesn't seem to be a good reason.

There are certainly coroner court support services available, www.coronerscourtssupportservice.org.uk/ although it appears it is not available fully across the UK. However, the website gives you an overview of the coronial process, and what you can expect, so it is still useful.

If you are really concerned about any aspect of your mother's care, then you can see if a clinical negligence laywer would be willing to take on your case on a no-win, no-fee basis. It would mean a subsequent civil case after the inquest though, which may be more than you want to deal with after all this time. However, the coroner's role is to do all they can for the person who died, so in theory this is not always necessary. Guess it depends on the circumstances.

I hope this helps. I'm sorry that you are dealing with all this.

Hi plymouth, I'm sorry for your loss.

I attended a friend's inquest a few years ago. Her death was self-inflicted, so we heard evidence from her boyfriend, her employer and the pathologist. It was odd hearing the pathologist use medical terminology to describe her body, and I found that difficult to hear. The coroner was lovely, and asked questions as proceedings went along. My friend's family sat near the front, and were able to ask questions too.

Thankyou for all your replies it just feels a little daunting. I'm sorry for your losses.

To add to what others have said, get in touch with whatever liaison/support service is attached to the relevant coroner. Also be aware that there may be press at the inquest so the story may appear in local or national papers. I found it very upsetting to see myself quoted in print and wish I'd avoided saying something so quotable.

The waiting is horrible and you can't do anything to hurry it along. It has a particular sort of powerlessness about it, along with the awful fear of what may be found out or come to light at the inquest.

All the best.