​Associate Professor Lai visibly lit up when discussing education on coroners' work.   Having been trained and previously practiced as a forensic pathologist, Prof Lai is currently Senior Consultant of the Department of Pathology, SGH Programme Director for Pathology,SingHealth Residency, and Associate Professor of Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School.   

He explained the intricacies of the Coroner's Act, which was put into force in January 2011 to define the scope of work and jurisdiction of the State Coroner. 

The resource portal on the SGH intranet provides guidelines on the do’s and dont's when formally signing up a case of mortality in the hospital.

“Doctors tend to lack experience on this aspect of clinical practice because only a small number of patients pass away under our watch, which is fortunate.   But with the Coroners Act in place, it is due time to equip our colleagues with knowledge of the elements and legal aspects when it comes to signing up the Certificate of the Cause of Death (CCOD) when a patient passes on,” Prof Lai said.

Hastened by SingHealth Group Director Medical, Professor Fong Kok Yong's interest in medico-legal issues, Prof Lai created the Coroner's Corner in partnership with SingHealth Academy and SGH Clinical Governance. 

“Some of us have misconceptions of what can be termed a natural or unnatural death, and there are terms which cannot qualify as a standalone cause of death. We need to clarify these.”

The resource portal on the SGH intranet provides guidelines on the do’s and dont's when formally signing up a case of mortality in the hospital.   It currently features reference material sucincluding the MOH Circular 14/2012 on Death Certification and Coronial Referral, a proposed workflow to illustrate if a case should be signed up or referred to the Coroner, and a summary guide on how to avoid trouble when issuing CCODs.

Prof Lai believes that there is a need to educate doctors so that accurate judgement can rule beyond the lack of experience in cases of mortality within the hospital. For instance, there are certain departments that practise a routine that any patient who passes away after operations should be reported and referred to the Coroner.   When this happens, doctors lose the chance to analyse the case and circumstances of death, failing then to understand fully the reasons behind the referral. .

“Some of us have misconceptions of what can be termed a natural or unnatural death, and there are terms which cannot qualify as a standalone cause of death. We need to clarify these,” Prof Lai explained.

I hope that by making the guidelines available, it can be brought to the attention of our colleagues throughout SingHealth.   Hopefully the Coroner's Corner can help prevent potential, unintentional brushes with the law due to doctors' relative lack of exposure to and experience in handling mortality cases.”

The Coroner’s Corner can be accessed here (only available for users with access to SGH's intranet).