Medical Examiner

Job overview

The Medical Examiners service at ELHT is looking to fill a 1.25PA.  The roles include a weekday 4 hour session per week plus weekend cover on a rota equating to 0.11PA per week/4 weekends a year.

The available sessions are on a Monday, AM or PM.

The role requires attendance into the ME offices at Royal Blackburn Hospital, working alongside a number of Medical Examiners Officers.

Medical Examiners must be registered with a license to practise in the UK by the GMC, with at least five years experience. The candidate must have been registered as a medical practitioner throughout the previous five years as at the date of appointment.

The role will verify clinical information on Medical Certificates of Cause of Death (MCCDs), to ensure appropriate referrals to the Coroner and accuracy and consistency of MCCD content. They will be responsible for the scrutiny of the documentation and circumstances arising from the majority of deaths in England and Wales. The Medical Examiner will be supported by the Medical Examiner’s Officer (MEO) and the Bereavement Team, who will assist in the preparation of notes and gathering of information, liaising with Junior doctors, coroner’s officers, bereavement specialist nurse and quality and safety teams. The Medical Examiner will be responsible for coordinating the daily activity and may delegate appropriately to the MEO.

Main duties of the job

• 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; • support those doctors who call for medical advice on suspected natural causes of death before they prepare an MCCD, and provide general medical advice to the coroner; • scrutinise the certified causes of all in-scope deaths in a way that is compliant with the proposed national protocol; • maintain comprehensive records of all deaths scrutinised and undertake analysis and provide information as required to ONS & locally for clinical governance purposes; • work with the other medical examiners in the trust to arrange reciprocal cover for holidays and other periods of absence and also to ensure that there is no potential conflict of interest between the medical examiner and the death being scrutinised; • explain to bereaved relatives cause of death in a transparent, tactful and sympathetic manner, which respects different faith, cultural, ethnic and diversity considerations, and to refer on to bereavement specialist nurse where necessary • refer cases over to the quality and safety team if the ME has concerns on reviewing the notes that the quality of care received was poor, or if the bereaved raises concerns about the quality of care. • support the training of junior doctors in completion of MCCDs and provide feedback on accuracy of certification locally.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

You will be expected to comply with national protocols to ensure that in each case the cause of death is scrutinised in a way that is robust, proportionate and consistent. You will have completed the first 26 modules of the HEE on line training b(http://www.e-lfh.or.uk/programmes/medical-examiners ). You must have up to date knowledge of medical conditions, treatments and medicines which may or may not have contributed to death and be able to exercise judgement in where to seek specialist advice in order to determine the appropriate level of scrutiny required. You must be able to distinguish between natural and unnatural causes of death and to decide where a death must be reported to, and investigated by, a coroner. Additionally, you must have detailed knowledge of the relevant legislation and processes which apply to • coroners and death certification; • deaths abroad where bodies are returned to England and Wales for disposal; and; • 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 . Your team will be responsible for maintaining comprehensive records in an appropriate format.