Medical examiners can help to protect standards of care within the NHS

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Baby deaths have put East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust under the spotlight (Alamy Stock Photo)

Significant safety concerns about the quality and care of maternity services at East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust highlighted in your article “Morecambe Bay inquiry chief voices criticisms over East Kent hospital scandal” paint a worrying picture.

In 2015 Dr Bill Kirkup’s report into the investigation of care at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust recommended that the role of medical examiners should be extended to review stillbirths as well as neonatal deaths.

The roll-out of a network of medical examiners across England and Wales is now well underway, with over half of hospitals having an established service. Medical examiners will initially scrutinise all hospital deaths not reported to the coroner, answer bereaved families’ questions and feed back any concerns to improve patient safety. The system will be extended to cover deaths outside hospitals in due course.

As lead medical royal college for medical examiners, the Royal College of Pathologists supports the view that medical examiners should work with coroners to investigate stillbirths and neonatal deaths. This would help identify unusual patterns, such as high numbers of deaths at one hospital, which can be a strong indicator of poor care.

Professor Jo Martin

President, The Royal College of Pathologists

Coronavirus care

I am a little surprised that people fail to see a disconnect between critiques of the Chinese response to the coronavirus and the desire to make an exception of American and British citizens. Wouldn’t the early release of people from China exacerbate the risk of contagion?

Cole Davis

Norwich

The case for federalism

Keir Starmer is to be congratulated on his advocacy of federalism. The need for this in the UK has been clear for some considerable time.

He is also right to say this needs to be part of a wider reworking of our constitutional arrangements.

In recent weeks and months – especially with the prorogation issue and the attacks on the judiciary – this kind or radical rethink has become urgent.

While the work clearly needs to start with political matters it must go much wider to include economic and environmental issues too.

The Rev Andrew McLuskey

Ashford

Playing chicken

The US ambassador to the UK, Woody Johnson, seems to be missing the point in his argument for allowing chlorine-washed chicken into the UK.

The objection is not to the process of using chemicals in the preparation of food – as he points out it is used in preparing salads. It is that the use of chlorine to cleanse the carcass after slaughter is to make up for the conditions under which the chickens are bred.

Geoff Forward

Stirling​

Tourist participation

A tourist, apparently an influencer, was arrested for climbing a pyramid in Egypt. She seemed to think it was her “right” but what about the right to protect sites that have stood for thousands of years?

In Australia the climb to the top of Uluru, or Ayers Rock, has been discontinued for cultural reasons although again many people claimed it as their right to climb it.

There seems to be a drift from enjoyment to participation, from appreciation to possession and little regard for how others consider a cultural sight.

Let’s just sit back and enjoy the uninterrupted view.

Dennis Fitzgerald

Melbourne, Australia

Brexit charity

Any Brexit 50p coins I get will be given to a refugee charity. I’d encourage other Remainers to do this or something similar.​

Alan Pack

Canterbury