CORONAVIRUS-RELATED deaths of NHS workers and care home residents and staff will now need to be reported to the Crown Office, Scotland’s Lord Advocate has said.
James Wolffe QC told MSPs that fatal accident inquiries (FAIs) will be held into Covid-19 deaths “where the law requires”.
The requirement to report coronavirus deaths to the Crown Office was relaxed earlier in the pandemic in order to reduce the burden on the medical profession.
In a statement to the Scottish Parliament yesterday, Scotland’s most senior law officer said his officials have been reviewing the situation and concluded two categories of deaths should be reported.
These are coronavirus-related deaths where the deceased contracted the disease at work, including NHS, emergency service, transport and care home staff.
Care home residents are the second category, he said.
Wolffe said the deaths would be entered into the Crown Office’s system of death investigation, though the nature of the inquiry will depend on the individual case.
He told MSPs: “In some cases, the investigation required may be quite limited.
“In other cases, it may be more extensive and that will depend on the particular circumstances.
“In that regard, it would be premature for me to speculate
at this stage whether a fatal accident inquiry into any particular death, or categories of deaths, from Covid-19 would or would not be appropriate.”
An FAI is an investigation into the circumstances of a death in Scotland, usually held in public at a sheriff court. Coroners’ inquests are a similar process in England and Wales.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel