A platform with the only database of coroner reports in the UK.
The Chief Coroner’s Office has published coroner reports since July 2013.
Here we share an interactive timeline of key events and reflect on the achievements of The Preventable Deaths Tracker since we launched in 2020.
Have we missed a milestone? Let us know and we’ll add it in
Prevention of Future Deaths reports.
On average, 1% of inquests are written as PFD reports every year (2014-2021), the lowest ratio in the whole pipeline.
An inquest is opened by a coroner, and is a fact-finding investigation used to determine when, where and how a person died. On average, inquests are opened on 53.8% of postmortems conducted every year (2014-2021).
A caveat to the pipeline is that inquests can be opened without a postmortem examination. From 2014 to 2021, 18.5% of inquests are opened without postmortems.
Inquests can be concluded (a cause of death is determined), adjourned (postponed), or left open (no conclusion is reached regarding the cause of death).
Postmortem examinations is an examination of the body to determine the cause of death.
On average, postmortem is conducted on 38.8% of all reported deaths every year (2014-2021).
In 2021, 33% of all deaths were reported to coroners.