The Coroners' Society of England and Wales has the following objectives:

• the promotion of the usefulness of the office of coroner to the public

• the ascertainment in questions of difficulty of the duties which devolve on coroners

• the advancement of such amendments to the law as seem desirable

• the establishment and maintenance of contact with HM Government

• the protection of the rights and interest of coroners

The Royal College of Pathologists' latin motto translates as:

 "To seek the sites and causes of disease." 

This is echoed in their 21st century strapline:

 "Pathology: the science behind the cure."

Sudden cardiac death in the young and helping bereaved families

"Dr Mary Sheppard has been working as a specialist cardiac pathologist for the past 12 years at the Royal Brompton Hospital. Many people think cardiac pathology is boring, lacking the diagnostic challenges of surgical pathology.  Even colleagues have been known to state it is “easy”, based upon ischaemic heart disease where coronary arteries and diseased muscle is all that is needed to be looked at with the naked eye. However, there is also a very personal and moving aspect to the job, which Dr Sheppard shares with us here."

New labs 'promise' answers for hundreds of bereaved families

The agonising wait endured by many families following the sudden – and tragic – death of a child or partner could soon be over as London opens the UK’s first ever ‘fast-track’ pathology laboratories to help analyse the causes of unexpected cardiac death in ‘apparently’ fit and healthy young people.

BBC News website

'My fight to find out why Adam died'

Adam Payne was just eight years old when he collapsed during a football match and died.  For months nobody was able to tell his family why it had happened, but doctors said they suspected epilepsy to be the cause of death.

BBC News website

Fast-track lab for sudden deaths

A new national fast-track laboratory is aiming to offer definitive explanations of sudden cardiac deaths in people under the age of 35 within a few weeks.

Under the microscope

"Because we don't have direct patient access we are considered the backroom boys," says Dr Mary Sheppard, while sipping coffee in the Royal Brompton Hospital cafe. 

Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) invests £300,000 to advance understanding of genetic silent killer – young sudden cardiac death

Two years on from publication of the NHS Chapter 8 strategy on Arrhythmias and Sudden Cardiac Death, leading charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), has committed to fund coroner referrals to an expert cardiac pathologist when a young person dies suddenly and the cause is unknown. 

Heart Charity CRY announce new Initiative to help prevent Sudden Cardiac Death in the Young

At this year’s annual Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) reception, as part of the CRY Raising Awareness Week, CRY will be announcing a major new initiative funding research which will be conducted by Dr Mary Sheppard of the National Heart and Lung institute at the Royal Brompton Hospital.

"Why is the CRY coroner/pathology initiative important?"

This section contains quotes from CRY families, illustrating why CRY's coroner / pathology initiative (see Press Releases above) is so vital.

Anonymous Coroner

Why is the coroner involved?
Any death of which the cause is not immediately known had by law to be reported to the Coroner.

Anonymous Pathologist