About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

66 Medico-Legal J. 1 (1998)

handle is hein.journals/medlgjr66 and id is 1 raw text is: Medico-Legal Journal (1998) 1, 1-2 © Medico-Legal Society 1998 Editorial: Turn Out the Lights and Shut the Door Dr Richard Shepherd Forensic Medicine Unit, St. George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK It is now 10 years since the publication of a report by a Home Office Working Party under the Chairman- ship of Mr Gordon Wassermann, a report that took 2 years to prepare. This report, when it was published, was greeted with considerable relief by a concerned forensic community since it appeared at least to place the subject of forensic medicine on a firm footing. In a nutshell the conclusion of Mr Wassermann's com- mittee was that, for the first time, the Police would have to pay the going rate for their use of forensic pathologists. This going rate was assessed by the firm of accountants Touche Ross as being £1000 per case. The committee also agreed to provide, through the Home Office, a structure for the development and sup- port of forensic medicine in terms of quality control, training and research. It was, I think, accepted at that time by the Home Office, the Police, the Coroners and above all the forensic pathologists that the subject was in a parlous state and radical measures were needed to not just preserve it but turn it into a developing and active speciality. Let us, however, consider what has happened in the 10 years since the publication of the report. In Lon- don, two of the four academic departments have closed. There is no longer a Chair of Forensic Medi- cine anywhere within the Metropolis, an area where over 50% of the homicides recorded in England & Wales occur each year. This closure of departments has not resulted in consolidation and improvement of the remaining departments, indeed the total number of practicing forensic pathologists in London has de- clined by approximately one-third in that time. But London is not alone. Consideration of the state of fo- rensic medicine throughout the United Kingdom shows it now to be an increasingly fragmented specialty provided mainly by part-time staff scattered through local hospital pathology departments with only one Chair of Forensic Medicine still in existence South of Hadrian's Wall. Some may say that this is a satisfactory rationali- sation of an over-subscribed, overpaid, group of pro- fessionals. It may be said that there are no problems since the Police have not had difficulty in obtaining a forensic pathologist whenever they wished one to at- tend and indeed this is probably so. It is however per- tinent to ask whether this is a result of the profession- alism and dedication of those practitioners left within the subject or whether it is the result of a well organ- ised and vibrant specialty. Those who pay the foren- sic pathologists, the police forces, have had to undergo severe cost restrictions over those ten years. They have negotiated well with disparate and sometimes warring groups of pathologists and have been able to maintain the price paid for specialist examinations to the level identified by Touche Ross some ten years ago or even below it. This is excellent for the police forces and for their budgets. It is not however excellent for the continuation of academic forensic medicine and now we are beginning to hear the use of the work strike in terms of forensic pathology. It would seem likely that, in the near future, a police force or police forces in the United Kingdom will not be able to obtain the services of a forensic pathologist when confronted by a death thought to be homicidal. One wonders what the response of the Home Office will be should this occur. As I write these words I find that I am not surprised that I accept with such equanimity that this event may occur since it has been forecast throughout my period of practice, throughout my period of training and by my predecessors in this subject for many decades. I too have said, on numerous occasions both in writing and verbally that the situation of forensic medicine is deteriorating more rapidly than anyone other than the forensic pathologists are willing to admit. Let me look now to the future. I understand that the

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most