SGH Bereavement Officer

Job overview

• To be a source of expert advice and support to medical and managerial staff on the administrative procedures following death, for example to ensure that all MCCD are completed correctly to prevent added distress to the relatives.
• To coordinate the completion documentation required after the death of a patient.
• To provide detailed information for the bereaved relatives on the practical procedures involved with death registration and to advise on the availability of community support where necessary.
• To advise the NOK on the process and legal requirements for repatriation of the deceased if requested.
• To ensure that all deceased patients’ details are recorded on the Eden database, including neonatal and paediatric deaths.
• To accompany relatives to mortuary to facilitate viewing the body in the viewing suite when required.
• To work closely with the local Coroner’s officers in providing information and documentation for cases referred to the Coroner, liaising with clinicians where necessary.
• To be conversant with the necessary documentation and policies to release bodies from the Mortuary to the funeral directors.
• To ensure that general practitioners and any outside agency involved with the patient’s care is informed of the death as soon as possible, including the production of standard letters.
• To support the arrangement of funeral services for pregnancy losses.

Main duties of the job

Management and Leadership

• To support the Bereavement Services Manager with operational and administrative issues and to assist the Manager in the development of the Bereavement Service and day to day running of the Bereavement Services Office.
• To facilitate excellent communication within the department by effectively disseminating all information received to the team and by feeding back relevant comments and queries to the Bereavement Services Manager.
• To assist the Manager of Medical Examiner & Bereavement Services through maintaining processes relating to the smooth cohesive running of the departments.
• To act as first point of contact for queries and concerns from patients, carers, visitors, etc., and assisting in investigations as required.

Financial & Resource Management

• To take responsibility for producing reports and dealing with general queries.
• To participate in budget control as specified by the Bereavement Services Manager by ensuring that all orders placed are necessary and within budget.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Displaying all new and outstanding cases on the whiteboard for the team, management, and attending doctors to track progress in real-time.
• Notifying the registered GP of the patient to inform them of their patient’s death.
• Identifying doctors who can complete the paperwork and invite them to the Medical Examiner (ME) office to discuss and agree on a cause of death.
• Advocating for rapid release faith requests (e.g. Muslim, Jewish), highlighting religious urgency to the ME and Mortuary teams.
• Assisting the doctors in completing the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD). Accuracy is the highest priority to ensure legal compliance and prevent delays for grieving families.
• Proactively reaching out if a next of kin (NOK) has not contacted the office within 48hours of a death, using recorded contacts in the medical notes to help move the process forwards.
• Monitoring cases referred to the Coroner and managing ad hoc requirements for Repatriations.
• Issuing release forms to funeral directors to allow them to collect a patient from the mortuary.
• Monitoring the ‘Long Stay List’ (30+ days) to help maintain safe mortuary capacity.
• Escorting families to the mortuary. (Families often find our office more easily than the mortuary. If a family arrives here for a viewing, an officer will accompany them to the correct location).
• Coordinating pregnancy loss funeral services. We offer funerals free of charge for losses between 16–24 weeks, liaising between families, the chaplaincy team and our contracted funeral director.
• Processing deceased patient’s property. The items must be checked and logged; Some items may be refused as we cannot accept medication, soiled clothing or valuables (jewellery, cash, etc.)
• Preparing and distributing bereavement booklets for wards, ensuring each contains a staff survey and freepost envelope.
• Referring cases to Public Health. If there is no NOK or they cannot take responsibility, we must refer the case to Wandsworth Council.