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R68

Consultant involvement in death certificates

Vale of Leven Inquiry · The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report · Issued 24 November 2014 · Addressed to: NHS Health Boards (Scotland)

Government responseScottish Government: Accepted (Jun 2015)

DeliveryNo statement from NHS Health Boards (Scotland) found

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

Health Boards should ensure that where a death occurs in hospital the consultant in charge of the patient’s care is involved in the completion of the death certificate wherever practicable, and that such involvement is clearly recorded in the patient records. Regular auditing of this process should take place.

Vale of Leven Inquiry, The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report · 24 Nov 2014 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

AI-generated evidence summary

The Inquiry asked health boards to involve consultants in completing hospital death certificates. In June 2015, the Scottish Government stated that it accepted all of the report's recommendations in full (Scottish Government response, Jun 2015). That response did not mention consultant involvement in death certification, recording such involvement in patient records, or regular auditing (Scottish Government response, Jun 2015).

Sources

AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 1 Oct 2026.

About this summary
This recommendation applies across many organisations. The record above reflects central policy activity; adoption in individual organisations may vary.

Report-level response context

The Scottish Government accepted all 75 recommendations together, in its response published on 18 June 2015. The response states the acceptance in the Cabinet Secretary's foreword, in section 1.3 and in section 5.1, and repeats it for the recommendations on infection prevention and control (Chapter 3) and on nursing care (section 4.1). It is organised by theme, not by recommendation: Appendix 1 lists the chapter sections that relate to each recommendation, and no passage answers any one recommendation alone. The response shown is the acceptance in section 1.3, which covers all 75.

Government response

●Scottish Government · Accepted · 18 Jun 2015

Words of: Scottish Government, The Scottish Government's Response to the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report, section 1.3, 18 June 2015

The Scottish Government accepts its responsibility for the failings identified in the report and we apologise unreservedly for the suffering and loss caused. We accept in full all of the report's recommendations.

Extract from: The Scottish Government's Response to the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report

Delivery

No statement on delivery from NHS Health Boards (Scotland) has been found in the sources searched. This is separate from the response above.

How this page is built

The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.