6 July 2006

Dundee University wins forensic pathology contract

The University of Dundee’s Centre for Forensic and Legal Medicine has been awarded a seven year contract by the Crown Office to coordinate forensic pathology services for Tayside, Fife and Central regions.

The contract worth over £1 million each year will enable the Centre to consolidate its position as a centre of excellence for forensic and legal medicine and strengthen its research and teaching role.

The contract also means the centre will be able to recruit extra staff including another forensic pathologist and two new toxicologists.

Professor Derrick Pounder, head of the Centre, said the new contract was a "vote of confidence" in the work already being done at the university.

"We carry out forensic autopsy and toxicology services on behalf of procurators fiscal in Central, Tayside and Fife and this new contract will enable us to strengthen that service and make it more responsive to the needs of families," he said.

"We will be able to increase our staff and hopefully have a faster and more efficient service which will mean less inconvenience for bereaved families when the procurator fiscal investigates deaths."

"It will also for the first time, enable us to deliver a seamless service in the area with the Centre’s forensic experts working alongside NHS colleagues to deliver this important service."

He added that the addition of a forensic pathologist and two new toxicologists to the staff at the centre will also strengthen an already internationally acclaimed research role.

"Our research is already internationally recognised particularly in the area of drug deaths. We carry out work for a variety of agencies including Amnesty International, the Council of Europe and the United Nations," he said.

The range of cases investigated by the Centre for Forensic and Legal Medicine includes road traffic fatalities, suicides, drug deaths, accidents at home and at work, homicides, sudden natural deaths and unexpected hospital deaths.

For media enquiries contact:

Hilary McNally
Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: h.mcnally@dundee.ac.uk