Medical Examiner

Job overview

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). Accreditation as a Medical Examiner is through the Royal College of Pathology and has two components: e-learning and face-to-face training. It is expected that the elearning is completed before interview and it is expected that face to face training, if not already completed, should take place within 6 months of starting the role.

Main duties of the job

• To ensure compliance with legal and procedural requirements relating to current and reformed processes for death certification, coroner investigation, and registration.
• To scrutinise causes of death provided by attending doctors in a proportionate, consistent manner in line with national protocols.
• To discuss and explain causes of death to next of kin/informants sensitively, transparently, and tactfully, mainly via telephone where barriers to understanding exist.
• To ensure all users of the Medical Examiner (ME) system are treated with dignity and without discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, or disability.
• To maintain accurate records of all deaths reviewed and provide analysis and information to the National Medical Examiner’s Office.
• To identify deaths that may require reporting as serious incidents and ensure referral for structured judgement reviews where appropriate.
• To participate in clinical governance activities, including audits, mortality reviews, investigations, and complaints relating to patient care.
• To support and train junior doctors in death certification and promote accurate completion of MCCDs.
• To countersign AP MCCDs and issue ME MCCDs following receipt of CN1B forms from the Coroner.
• To work collaboratively with Medical Examiner Officers (MEOs), site medical directors, and fellow Medical Examiners, sharing expertise to support peer learning and consistent service standards.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• 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.
• 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 ensure that all users of the ME system are treated with respect and are not discriminated against on the grounds of sex, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or disability.
• To maintain comprehensive records of all deaths scrutinised and undertake analysis to provideinformation to the National Medical Examiner’s office.
• To identify deaths that could potentially be reported as untoward serious incidents via the trust governance systems and ensure referral for structured judgement reviews of mortality where indicated.
• 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 countersign AP MCCDS and issue ME MCCDs on receipt of CN1Bs from the Coroner
• To work with medical examiner officers (MEOs), delegating duties as appropriate.
• To engage with the site medical director, fellow MEs and the MEOs
• 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.