Tracking preventable deaths in May 2024

A monthly review of the state of affairs

May was a bittersweet month for the world of coronial data. Some highlights include:

• The Preventable Deaths Tracker database hit over 5,000 reports, bringing the total number of published reports to 5,066!

• The Preventable Deaths Tracker’s Substack reached over 1,000 subscribers, so a huge thank you for your continued support.

• There is a new Chief Coroner. On 25 May, HHJ Thomas Teague retired, and HHJ Alexia Durran was appointed for a three-year term.

• The Ministry of Justice published the 2023 coroners statistics, which I discussed and summarised here:

What happens when we die?

• The UK election was announced, stopping the work of Select Committees. However, the Chair of the Justice Committee published their findings from the follow-up inquiry into the Coroner Service in a brilliant letter, which I’ve shared:

The coroner service is in crisis

• There were many events in May. I delivered two Educational Webinars—one for Bevan Brittan and another for The DataLab. I also presented at the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine (FFLM) Conference in London and was an invited speaker at the Australian Chief Coroner’s Meeting.

Coroner reports in May 2024

Now, onto the data with a bespoke analysis of all reports published in May 2024.