Job summary
Working Part time : 1 session per week (4hours)
A new exciting opportunity within the Medical Examiner's Office at The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The team currently scrutinise all hospital deaths and we are looking to expand the current team of Medical Examiners as we extend the service to incorporate scrutiny of deaths in the community. We invite applications from anyone with GMC registration and either with relevant professional clinical background or experience with the bereavement or coroner service.
Medical examiners are senior medical doctors who are contracted for a number of sessions a week to undertake medical examiner duties outside of their usual clinical duties. They are trained in the legal and clinical elements of death certification processes.
Main duties of the job
Reporting directly to the Trust's Medical Director and working under delegation from the Regional Medical Examiner, you will work with the Trust to:
- Strengthen safeguards for the public by providing robust, systematic and independent scrutiny of all deaths not referred directly to the Coroner.
- Improve the quality of death certification, providing advice based on a review of relevant health records.
- Avoid unnecessary distress for the bereaved by answering questions about the care given or certified cause of death, managing the Bereavement Services
- Act as the point of contact for healthcare professionals, coroner and registration services.
Additionally, you will raise any issues concerning the care of the dying patient within the Trust's existing governance framework. This will require a combination of skills and knowledge, compassion, sensitivity and a commitment to engage with bereaved families.
You will be supported by the Medical Examiners Officers and this team will develop this new service within the Countess of Chester NHS Trust in keeping with the National requirements. The MES will link in with the bereavement team, the coroner's team and the governance team to provide assurance around the cause of death, care patients receive, and concerns relatives raise. It is expected that support from the Regional Medical Examiner would enable the service development is in keeping with National services.
About us
The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides services to West Cheshire and to Welsh patients covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. Its services are provided from three locations:
- The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 438 general and acute beds
- Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility
- Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.
The Trust employs over 6258 staff (headcount) which includes temporary bank staff and provides acute emergency and elective services, primary care direct access services and obstetric services to a population of approximately 407,000. This includes 357,000 residents in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire which has a population of approximately 50,000.
The Trust is a busy district general hospital and in 2022/2023, there were more than 503,342 patient attendances (inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery. This is an increase of nearly 10,000 compared to the previous year when there were 494,387 patient attendances.
Job description
Job responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.
Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values.
Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £23 (standard) or £43 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first three months of employment.
You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £13 per year applies.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.
Good luck with your application.
Job description
Job responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.
Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values.
Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £23 (standard) or £43 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first three months of employment.
You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £13 per year applies.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.
Good luck with your application.
Person Specification
Registration
Essential
- Medical practitioner registered and licensed to practise in the UK by the GMC
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- A commitment to life-long learning and undertaking personal development opportunities.
- MEs should have up-to-date knowledge of causes of death and an understanding of the legal frameworks associated with death certification processes
- 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 and disseminate examples of good practice amongst relevant colleagues
Desirable
- Have the resilience to manage own reaction to frequently distressing situations and support others within the team
Person Specification
Registration
Essential
- Medical practitioner registered and licensed to practise in the UK by the GMC
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- A commitment to life-long learning and undertaking personal development opportunities.
- MEs should have up-to-date knowledge of causes of death and an understanding of the legal frameworks associated with death certification processes
- 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 and disseminate examples of good practice amongst relevant colleagues
Desirable
- Have the resilience to manage own reaction to frequently distressing situations and support others within the team
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
