Medical Examiner Officer

Job description

Job responsibilities

JOB PURPOSE

To support Medical Examiners in their role in scrutinising the circumstances surrounding causes of death.

To act as an intermediary between the bereaved and clinicians to establish and resolve any concerns relating to a patients death.

To be a point of contact and source of advice for relatives of deceased patients, healthcare professionals, His Majestys Coroner and Registration Services.

The Medical Examiner Officer (MEO) will be part of an existing team acting as experts in death certification and scrutiny of Non-Coronial deaths.

To assist in highlighting cases for assessment by the Structured Judgement Review team, Child Death Overview Panel, Clinical Governance Teams and the Learning Disability Review Teams

To refer patients to the Coroner for further investigation on approval by the Medical Examiner.

There is significant emotional effort associated with dealing with bereaved families.

DIMENSIONS

To undertake a wide ranging a multifactorial initial review of medical records (paper and electronic), supporting the Medical Examiner in their scrutiny.

To analyse and assist in highlighting cases for assessment in respect of maternal and child death, safeguarding, Learning Disability (LeDeR) cases, and those requiring review under the Serious Incident reporting process.

To ensure cases are referred to the Structured Judgement Review (SJR) Process if required.

Monitor data quality and take the necessary action to address the issues identified.

COMMUNICATION AND WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

To work with MEs to aid them in their responsibility for overseeing the death certification process for all deceased patients in the organisation

To interact with bereaved relatives in person or over the telephone

To identify any concerns relatives may have and escalate appropriately. To refer any concerns raised by families which are not resolved in discussion with the Medical Examiner/Medical Examiner Officer through agreed channels.

To liaise with the Mortuary & Bereavement Assistants regarding status of Medical Certificates of Cause of Death and referrals to His Majestys Coroner to ensure a seamless death certification process for families.

To work with the Risk Management Department in liaising with the Coroners Office regarding referrals, inquests and progression of referred cases.

The information to be communicated will be highly sensitive and in some cases, highly charged, emotive and stressful. The Medical Examiner Officer must have excellent communication skills with a high level of empathy when communication with bereaved relatives and friends. They must be able to maintain this even in highly emotive and stressful scenarios.

- Hospital Doctors and other healthcare professionals

- Medical Examiners

- Quality Managers for each division

- Service managers, clinical governance leads, infection control and Mortuary staff

- His Majestys Coroner and Officers

- Spiritual/Faith Community Leads

- Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages

- General Practitioners and Practice Staff

- Bereaves Relatives, carers and Executors/Solicitors

- Funeral Directors

- National Medical Examiner

- Regional Leads for the Medical Examiner System

- Police

KEY RESULT AREAS

Responsibility for patients

Interaction with bereaved relatives/friends/carers in person or over the telephone. The post holder must demonstrate the ability to convey empathy and always remain professional

To be responsible for communicating technical information in a supportive manner

To be aware of the diverse needs of users of the Medical Examiner System to ensure equality to any group defined by sex, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or disability. This particularly includes the needs of those with religious or cultural expectations surrounding death.

There will not be responsibility for clinical care in this post.

Responsibility for policy and Service Development

To contribute to and review Medical Examiner Service policies and Procedures to reflect best practice in the delivery of a Medical Examiner System.

Responsibility for Financial and Physical Resources

Collate routine information on income and expenditure with support from finance

Engagement in Information Resources

To support the design, testing and implementation of the new potential eMedical Examiner process

To set up and maintain robust electronic record (including Microsoft Office Calendar, Medical Examiner Database on Microsoft Excel etc.) of all deaths and to align with current information systems in place. To optimise the way such data is collected and to ensure it is accurate and up to date.

To assist in preparing of quarterly performance reports for uploading to NHS Data Collections Framework for funding reimbursement in line with national procedures.

To use a computer for long periods of time daily to undertake complex data input and analysis.

Provide support in designing, building, maintaining and developing reporting tools.

Person Specification

Education, Qualifications and Training

Essential

• Educated to Bachelor's Degree Level, or evidence of study/equivalent practical experience at an advanced level
• Commenced the Medical Examiner e-Learning core training modules prior to starting the post

Desirable

• Completed Medical Examiner e-Learning core training modules prior to starting the post

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Full understanding of the Medical Examiner system operational remit when incorporated within Bereavement Services or as a standalone office
• Experience of having sensitive communication with potentially distressed families
• Experience of working with people in sensitive and emotional situations
• To have qualifications/skills in day to day operational/process management of a customer facing service where users may have unpredictable and emotionally charged needs

Desirable

• Knowledge of the Coroner and Justice Act 2009 with reference to the Medical Examiner System
• Knowledge of patient information systems SysmOne, ICE, DPR, PACS, RiO etc
• Knowledge of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death Regulations 2024
• Knowledge of the Medical Examiner Regulations 2024
• Experience of working in a healthcare setting with multidisciplinary teams across organisational boundaries
• Knowledge of the Public sector/NHS work structures

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Excellent written, verbal and interpersonal skills demonstrating the ability to communicate in difficult and emotional situations with empathy and professionalism with all stakeholders
• Ability to work to deadlines
• Extensive use of database packages and knowledge and experience of using Microsoft Office (Excel, Word etc.)

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.

Employer details

Employer name

Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Dorset County Hospital

Williams Avenue

Dorchester

DT1 2JY

Employer's website

https://www.dchft.nhs.uk/working-for-us/ (Opens in a new tab)