Medical Examiner

Job summary
Context
This post has been created by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in response to observations made in the Third Report of the Shipman Inquiry. The medical examiner system became a statutory service in 2024, with the aim of promoting a robust, transparent and independent scrutiny of the death certification processes.

Dimensions of role
Medical Examiners (MEs) are appropriately trained doctors who will verify clinical information on Medical Certificates of Cause of Death (MCCDs) and ensure that the right referrals are made to the coroner for further investigation. A practising medical practitioner who has been on the general medical council register for a minimum of five years post registration can apply to be a medical examiner. It is recommended that medical examiners are consultant grade doctors from a range of disciplines (including GP principals). MEs will take a consistent approach to the formulation of MCCD content, which must be clinically accurate and reflect any discussions with the next of kin/informant. MEs must not have been involved in the care of the deceased patients for deaths they scrutinise.

Main duties of the job
Main duties
To ensure compliance with the legal and procedural requirements associated with the current and proposed reformed processes of certification, investigation by coroners and registration of deaths for the deceased of all ages.

To scrutinise the certified causes of death offered by attending doctors in a way that is proportionate, consistent and compliant with the proposed national protocol.

To discuss and explain the cause of death with next of kin/informants in a transparent, tactful and sympathetic manner. It is anticipated that such discussions will be predominately conducted through telephone conversations where barriers to understanding information may exist.

To participate in relevant clinical governance activities relating to death certification including audits, mortality review processes and investigations regarding formal complaints about patient care.

To support the training of junior doctors in their understanding of death certification and promote good practice in accurate completion of MCCDs.

To work with medical examiner officers (MEOs), delegating duties as appropriate.

To engage with lead ME and lead MEO for the region.

To adopt a collaborative working relationship with other MEs by sharing experiences and expertise to support peer learning and set uniform standards of service delivery.

To input into provider organisations learning from deaths programmes.

To participate in a MEO mentor programme, for support, personal and service development

About us
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.

The Trust operates hospital-based services from three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester

Our workforce is more than 7,000 strong, and our caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred care. You could be one of them.

We are committed to recruiting the best people to work with us. Our values, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.

Being open and honest

Ensuring people feel cared for

Showing respect to everyone

We are committed to developing a culture of continuous improvement by embedding the principles of our Improvement System.

We are proud to have achieved Timewise accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex positive employer.

DBS Checks and Costs
Any applicants who are offered posts requiring a DBS check as part of their employment check will have the cost of this check (at the current rate) deducted from their salary. Please see link in Supporting Information section for more details on DBS checks and costs.

Job responsibilities
Knowledge and skills required for post
Qualifications
Registered with a licence to practice in the UK by the GMC.

As a pre-condition of practicing, an ME must have successfully completed the mandatory components of the national online medical examiner curriculum. Face-to-face training must be completed within the first three months of being in post.

Behavioural attributes
MEs should be aware of how their personal communication style impacts on others and be able to adapt their approach to suit a variety of situations and audiences. This will require:

• Highly evolved self-awareness and empathetic skills to liaise effectively and sympathetically with bereaved families.
• The ability to demonstrate and combine appropriate levels of compassion with professionalism and discretion.
• Being open to constructive criticism, ideas and solutions.
• Acting as a positive role model and interacting appropriately with all stakeholders including MEOs, other MEs, the bereaved and the coroner.
• Having the integrity to gain trust and comply with the independent nature of the ME role in the context of other clinical specialty duties.

Communications and key working relationships
To be a source of expert knowledge and advice for health professionals and wider stakeholder groups; these include:

• Medical Directors
• All grades of clinicians
• Clinical governance leads
• MEOs and bereavement service staff.
• Mortuary staff.
• Coroners and their officers.
• Registrar of births and deaths and their officers.
• Local Authorities, including care homes and safeguarding teams.
• Spiritual and faith community leaders.
• Lead MEs and lead MEOs
• Regional and National Medical Examiner.

Knowledge
MEs must have up-to-date knowledge of medical conditions and treatments and be able to exercise judgement about when to seek specialist advice.

MEs must have detailed knowledge of the relevant legislation and processes which apply to:

• The determination of whether a death is natural or unnatural
• Deaths that must be reported to the coroner
• Deaths abroad where bodies are returned to England and Wales for disposal
• Deaths where relatives wish to transport the body abroad for disposal
• Certifying and registering deaths and the regulations to authorise cremation or burials of stillbirths abroad.

Accountability
MEs will have professional independence in scrutinising deaths but will be accountable to the employing organisations Board for achieving agreed standards or levels of performance.

MEs will have an independent professional line of accountability to a regional structure of NHS Improvement/NHS England outside the employing organisation and immediate line management structure.

MEs will comply with guidance issued by the National Medical Examiner when carrying out ME duties.

Safety and Quality Clinical Governance
MEs will be required to participate in any relevant governance activities relating to scrutiny and confirmation of the cause of death where concerns have been raised by the next of kin/informant of the deceased and/or clinical staff and ME scrutiny.

MEs will facilitate routine analysis of MCCD information to identify trends, patterns and unusual features of deaths and report, as required, firstly to the regional Lead ME and ultimately to the National Medical Examiners office.

MEs will provide information to local Child Death Overview panels in respect of all child deaths which are not being investigated by the coroner.

Maintaining Trust
Equality and Diversity
MEs will act in accordance with Equalities and Human Rights legislation and the organisations Equality and Diversity policies.

Independence
MEs must avoid any potential conflicts of interest. In cases where they have a personal or professional relationship with the deceased person, next of kin/informant, or with the attending doctor preparing the MCCD, they must transfer any scrutiny of the death to another ME.

Continuing professional development
MEs are expected to take responsibility for their own continuing professional development in accordance with any standards for maintaining a GMC licence to practice and membership of any relevant professional body. The ME role should be included in the whole practice appraisal.

MEs should maintain a Personal Development Plan in agreement with their appraiser.

There will be opportunities to attend local and national activities to maintain up to date knowledge.

Working Conditions:
MEs may need to use a computer for prolonged periods of time. The ME system operates within a reactive area of service delivery interacting with people in variable degrees of distress and demonstrating potentially irrational/unpredictable behaviour.

Person Specification
Communication and teamwork
Essential

• Strong interpersonal skills demonstrating the ability to communicate in difficult and emotional situations with empathy and professionalism.
• Ability to work effectively and efficiently within own team and also closely with people in other disciplines
• Ability to work as part of a team and organise a fluctuating workload around competing priorities and numerous interruptions.

Personal qualities and behavioural attributes
Essential

• Proactive and self-motivated with a flexible working approach
• Have the resilience to manage own reaction to frequently distressing situations and support others within the team.
• To sustain professional integrity and independence at all times, particularly where there is the potential for a conflict of interest.

Safety and Quality - Clinical Governance
Essential

• Knowledge of local and national clinical governance systems and an understanding of how the ME can work collaboratively to improve patient safety by identifying sub-optimal clinical and organisational performance.
• Ability to identify available data sources to support the detection and analysis of concerns and to recognise gaps in available knowledge.
• Ability to identify and disseminate examples of good practice amongst relevant colleagues.

Qualifications
Essential

• Medical practitioner registered and licensed to practise in the UK by the GMC.
• A commitment to life-long learning and undertaking personal development opportunities.
• Candidates must have successfully completed the mandatory e-learning modules by the time they start the role. Candidates must attend a face-to-face training session within the first three months in post.
• MEs should have up-to-date knowledge of causes of death and an understanding of the legal frameworks associated with death certification processes.
• IT skills including use of email and commonly used software.
• Ability to manage and comply with sensitive information-based processes under tight timescales with a proportionate approach.
• Knowledge of the special requirements of various faith groups and respect for equality and diversity

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applicants must have current UK professional registration.