Coroner

Coroner’s Office

The coroner’s office deals with unexpected deaths. Your GP can help decide if a death needs reporting to the coroner, based on medical history and recent events. Reasons to report a death include:

• Unknown cause of death
• Not seen by the doctor in the last 28 days (in person or by video, not phone)
• Violent, unnatural, or suspicious deaths
• Deaths from accidents, self-neglect, or neglect by others
• Deaths from work-related diseases
• Deaths after an abortion, surgery, or anaesthesia
• Suspected suicides
• Deaths in police or prison custody, or under the Mental Health Act
• Deaths from drug abuse, overdose, or alcohol poisoning
• Deaths linked to medical treatments or reactions to drugs
• Deaths within 24 hours of hospital admission (unless for terminal care)
• Allegations of medical errors or negligence

Talk to your GP to find out if a death needs to be reported to the coroner.

The contact details for the Coroner's Office for the Borough of Rochdale can be found below.

Certifying a Death and MCCD Certificate

Certifying a death is different from declaring someone dead. Declaring death can be done by a trained doctor, paramedic, or nurse. Certifying a death, which explains the cause, can only be done by a doctor who:

• Saw the patient during their last illness
• Saw the patient in the last 28 days face-to-face or by video, or saw the body after death if beyond 28 days

If the patient wasn’t seen during their last illness, the death must be reported to the coroner’s office.

In expected deaths, the GP usually completes the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD). This certificate explains the cause of death. The doctor emails the MCCD to the local registrar office, which then issues the death certificate (Green Form/Form 9) for burial or cremation.

After the MCCD is sent, the family or next of kin must call the registrar office to book an appointment to collect the death certificate.