IHRD-87 Response Accepted AI-assessed

Independent Medical Examiner

Recommendation

The Department should now institute the office of Independent Medical Examiner to scrutinise those hospital deaths not referred to the Coroner.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to the Department of Health NI's March 2018 response, the Department of Health NI accepted this recommendation, stating that prototypes for an Independent Medical Examiner (IME) service were progressing. According to the Department of Health NI (2026-02-06), as of February 2026, an IME service has been piloted in NI hospitals, but it is not yet statutory or fully rolled out, and Northern Ireland is explicitly excluded from the statutory medical examiner provisions implemented in England and Wales.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.health-ni.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
Northern Ireland
Response
Accepted
Accepted Department of Health NI
01 Mar 2018

Prototypes to determine the most appropriate way to operate such a service are progressing. Learning will inform proposals for an IME service in Northern Ireland.

Read Full Response
Published Evidence

Published assessments of implementation progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Check the source type badge to see whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Reasonable Progress
06 Feb 2026
Department of Health NI Other

Independent Medical Examiner service piloted in NI hospitals but not statutory and not fully rolled out. NI is excluded from England/Wales statutory provisions.

View detailed findings

England and Wales made their medical examiner system statutory from September 2024 (all deaths must be reviewed by either a medical examiner or coroner). NI is explicitly excluded from these provisions. NI has been running a pilot but full rollout would require legislative change which requires a functioning Executive. The IHRD Workstream 2 Death Certification Implementation Working Group has an IME Subgroup, but full statutory implementation remains pending.

IHRD Implementation Programme - Workstream 2 View Source
Source
Inquiry Hyponatraemia Inquiry
Report Report of the Inquiry into Hyponatraemia-related Deaths 31 Jan 2018
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Department of Health NI Primary
Themes & Tags
Patient safety governance Quality and safety oversight Medical Examiners Death Certification Oversight
Recommendation age 8.1 yrs
Last formal update 783 days ago