Coroner’s Court: Statement Writing & Giving Evidence

This course is led by Mike O’Connell, Legal Services Practitioner. This course will provide delegates with the key skills and
knowledge required to be a confident and capable factual witness at a coroner’s inquest. Topics include the role of the coroner, purpose of an inquest, providing a witness statement, preparing for the inquest, the court hearing itself, giving evidence, and inquest conclusions.

Mental health inpatient settings: Creating conditions for learning from deaths in mental health inpatient services and when patients die within 30 days of discharge - Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) 2025

Inquests were described by some staff as “scary”, “adversarial”, and that they felt a “sense of impending doom when faced with a request to attend an inquest”. Research on consultant psychiatrists losing patients to suicide revealed the inquiry and coroner’s inquest as a potentially difficult part in the aftermath of a death (Tamworth et al, 2022). Common feelings included: Being blamed “… it really feels like you are in court, and someone will determine whether you are guilty or not. Why else would you have a jury unless you are accused of something?”  Having insufficient support and guidance “I didn’t even get any support by going to coroner’s court … and it’s horrific … is the worst thing you could ever do in your life. To be asked questions by the family in coroner's court as to ‘why is my son dead?’”

About the speaker:

Mike O’Connell, Legal Services Practitioner. Head of Legal Services at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust - 24 years; Interim Head of Legal Services/Senior Inquests Manager at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHSFT - 5 years; Vice-Chair, then Chair, Association of Litigation And Risk Management (ALARM), now the Patient Safety Section of the RSM - 7 years; In 2014, his team were voted The Legal 500 UK in-house team of the year for healthcare.   

After attending this course, delegates will gain...

• Provide a good factual witness statement.
• Understand how an inquest works in practice.
• Give effective evidence in coroner’s court.

Suitability

This course offers 6 CPD points and is suitable all healthcare staff who may have to give evidence
at a coroner’s inquest, or wish to understand the process better, plus those who need to support them in such circumstances.