Coroners: Heart Diseases

(asked on 26th March 2026) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department issues guidance to coroners on investigating potential cardiac causes in unexplained deaths of young people.


Answered by
Alex Davies-Jones Portrait
Alex Davies-Jones
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 13th April 2026

Coroners are independent judges and the Chief Coroner is responsible for providing national guidance and training. In 2014, the Chief Coroner issued joint guidance for coroners regarding investigations into potential cardiac causes of deaths in young people: https://www.judiciary.uk/guidance-and-resources/joint-guidance-for-coroners-and-coroners-officers-sudden-cardiac-death-inherited-heart-conditions/.

This guidance was developed in conjunction with the British Heart Foundation, Cardiac Risk in the Young, the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England.

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