Job summary
The Medical Examiner Service in West Herts Hospitals is in an exciting phase. Following implementation into our Acute Hospital over the past 3 years, we are now planning the extension of the Medical Examiner Service into Community and Primary Care settings in line with the statutory requirements coming into effect in Spring 2022.
Medical Examiners carry out independent scrutiny of deceased patients medical records to review the patients care and ascertain a cause of death and will also link in with the patient safety processes where applicable. Medical Examiners are appropriately trained senior doctors who 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. Additionally, the MEs raise any issues concerning the care of the dying patient within the trust or community. This will require a combination of skills and knowledge, compassion, sensitivity and a commitment to engage with bereaved families when necessary.
We are currently recruiting between 5 and 10 Medical Examiners, who will work 1 to 2 PAs per week. The service operates from Monday to Friday. Interviews will take place on Friday 12th and Friday 19th of November
Main duties of the job
The main aims of the Medical Examiner Service are to:
Improve the quality and accuracy of MCCD
Ensure referrals to coroners are appropriate
Support local learning/improvement: patient safety/End Of Life Care
Improve public confidence/greater safeguards via consistent scrutiny of all non-coronial deaths
Support all healthcare providers to improve care via increased learning opportunities.
Provide bereaved families with greater transparency and opportunities to raise queries regarding the MCCD
Applications are invited for the above Medical Examiner posts within the offices based at Watford General Hospital, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust. The successful candidates will join a team of Medical Examiners who are currently focused on scrutinising in-hospital deaths. The new Medical Examiners will be focused on the review and scrutiny of the deaths in the community; therefore, we would encourage medical practitioners from primary care and community hospital settings as well as hospital consultants to apply for these posts. You will be supported by the Medical Examiners Officers, and we are in the process of expanding our team of Medical Examiners Officers as well.
About us
There has never been a more exciting time to join West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust! Major redevelopment works are due for completion by 2025 or soon after. These will be most dramatic at Watford General Hospital where up to 90% of buildings will be new.
There are also plans for a digital transformation, new models of care and a multi-storey car park. As well as this, the trust which won the UK Best Employer Award (Nursing Times 2019) is applying for teaching hospital status in recognition of its wide and well-renowned role in educating doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.
We encourage and welcome people with disabilities if you need help please ask.
We reserve the right to close this advert early due to the volume of applicants. Please apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
If you do not hear back within 3 weeks of your application, please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.
Job description
Job 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 provide information to the National Medical Examiners office.
- 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.
Key relationships include:
- Director of Governance
- Medical Examiners in Team
- Medical Examination Officers
- Patient Affairs
- Coroners Office
- Bereaved Families
- Mortuary Staff
- Consultant Histopathology Lead
- Medical Director
- GPs and GP practice staff
- Hospice team
Job description
Job 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 provide information to the National Medical Examiners office.
- 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.
Key relationships include:
- Director of Governance
- Medical Examiners in Team
- Medical Examination Officers
- Patient Affairs
- Coroners Office
- Bereaved Families
- Mortuary Staff
- Consultant Histopathology Lead
- Medical Director
- GPs and GP practice staff
- Hospice team
Person Specification
Your application will be scored against the person spec
Essential
- Please see attached job description
Person Specification
Your application will be scored against the person spec
Essential
- Please see attached job description
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
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).
