Luce Report

Luce Report

A Command Paper presented to Parliament in 2003 based on a review and report on death certification and the coroner services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, authored by a group chaired by Tom Luce, former Head of Social Care Policy Department of Health, with members from the legal profession, the Royal College of Pathologists, and others.
Luce Report, suggested changes
1. A consistent professional service, based on full-time leadership throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
2. Consistency of service to families to be underpinned by a Family Charter having legal effect.
3. A service that deals effectively with legal and health issues, works effectively across the full range of public health and public safety, and supports and audits the death certification process.
4. In death certification, a common process to replace the “three-tier” cremation process with a “two-tier” certification system for all deaths equally, whether the body is buried or cremated.
5. More informative and accessible outcomes to coroners’ death investigations
6. A proper recognition of the work of coroners’ officers