Medical Examiner

Medical practitioners must be registered by the General Medical Council to practise in the UK. The candidate must have been registered as a medical practitioner and in practice throughout the previous five years as at the date of appointment.

The medical examiners will undergo online training offered by Health Education England.

The main responsibilities of the ME are to:
Ensure compliance with the legal and procedural requirements associated with the current processes of certification, investigation (by coroners) and registration of deaths within a Local Authority area;
The Medical Examiners will attend the Bereavement Office Monday to Friday to review those deaths where the responsible clinical team attend to complete the required processes with an option to join the Out of Hours service at weekends and Bank Holidays.

Support those doctors preparing an MCCD, Identify those deaths which need discussion or referral with the coroner Scrutinise the certified causes of all in-hospital deaths in a way that is compliant with proposed national protocols.

Work closely with the bereavement Nurse/ office and take into account concerns and complaints raised by family members which may trigger a referral to the coroner or review via the Serious Incident framework.

Review the notes of all deaths in appropriate detail to ensure that further review is conducted as needed Identify all deaths that require mandatory review.

The medical examiner scrutiny also selects cases which require a second tier, in depth structured judgement review Maintain comprehensive records of all deaths scrutinised and undertake analysis and provide information as required to Office of National Statistics & locally for clinical governance purposes Work with the any other local medical examiner(s) in the Trust to arrange reciprocal cover for holidays and other periods of absence Ensure that there is no potential conflict of interest between the medical examiner and the death being scrutinised Explain to bereaved relatives the cause of death in a transparent, tactful and sympathetic manner, which respects different faith, cultural, ethnic and diversity considerations.

Explore any concerns that the bereaved relatives have about the care received by the patient, and take further action as needed Support the training of junior doctors in completion of MCCDs and provide feedback on accuracy of certification locally Undertake a period of initial training according to national guidelines, with local orientation where local rules exist eg Coroners Update training as necessary in the light of developing legislation and advice on the role of the Medical Examiner Further information regarding this role is provided within the attached Job Description and Person Specification.

Jobs are provided by the Find a Job Service from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).