Executive Summary

NSW Health Pathology provides a Non-Coronial Autopsy Service for certain cases at the request of a NSW Health hospital treating clinician.

Non-coronial autopsy examinations are usually undertaken when the cause of death is known but there is an interest in determining further information related to both diagnosed and potentially undiagnosed disease.

NSW Health Pathology’s Non-Coronial Autopsy Service does not provide examinations in the context of medico-legal concerns, nor does it accept private requests from the deceased person’s family or from a doctor external to a NSW public hospital

Service overview

The scope of the Non-Coronial Autopsy Service is limited and there are strict procedures to be followed by a treating clinician when requesting a non-coronial autopsy.