The coroner's inquest.

(a) He can make no effective ruling as to the steps any doctor should take in relation to any patient before death—even where that death, when it occurs, will fall within the coroner's jurisdiction; (b) He may indicate—as anyone else may—the type of deaths which he wishes to be reported to him—for example all deaths within 24 h of any operation, but there is no legal requirement upon anyone to comply with such a request; (c) Even in circumstances where it is obvious that the coroner's jurisdiction to investigate the death arises (e.g. a road traffic accident), there may not be any legal requirement upon the doctor to report the death to the coroner [1]. There is, however, a requirement to complete a death certificate in every case [2] (although this is often not done where a death is referred to the coroner). The certificate of death should be endorsed, "Death referred to HM Coroner for the District of...". The duty to inform the coroner falls upon Registrar of Deaths [3]. He will not register any death where it appears to the registrar "to have occurred during an operation or before recovery from the effect of an anaesthetic".