When I use a word... Preventable deaths and public awareness

Coroners in England and Wales have a duty to write reports highlighting factors that they think may have contributed to deaths, asking for action from those who might be able to reduce the risks of further deaths from the same causes. These reports are known as Prevent Future Deaths reports or PFDs. Analyses of the reports themselves and of papers published about them in peer reviewed journals and of accounts published in The BMJ and national newspapers suggest that these reports could be more widely circulated. The Preventable Deaths Tracker, freely available online, aims to encourage greater public awareness of PFDs and more research into the lessons they contain.