Medical Examiner

1 PA per week (Monday or Friday – 4 hour session)

Permanent

Salary: £105,504 – £139,882 per annum, pro rata (salary will be dependent on experience)

Closing Date: 12th August 2025

Interview Date: 28th August 2025

**This post may close early due tohigh numbers of applications,so you are advised to apply promptly. **

All correspondence for this vacancy will be sent by email; please check your account regularly including your Junk and SPAM areas.

A great and friendly place to work, so bring your passion, commitment and expertise and enjoy the opportunities to make a difference every day.

We welcome applications from the Armed Forces Community – get in touch to find out more

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) created the Medical Examiner system in England and Wales in response to observations made in the Third Report of the Shipman Inquiry and other reports. In 2024 new legislation was introduced mandating the review of all non-coronial deaths by a medical examiner. The Medical Certificate of Cause of Death Regulations 2024.

Main duties of the job

Medical Examiners (MEs) are senior and independent doctors specifically trained to review deaths through a process of a) proportionate review of medical records b) discussion with the attending practitioner and c) a discussion with the bereaved. This ensures accurate death certification/referral to the coroner, provides governance assurance to healthcare providers and directly contributes to learning and improvement. Crucially, the conversation with the bereaved provides them with support at a difficult time, offering an opportunity to ask questions and give feedback to an independent doctor.

The Medical Examiner service delivers independent review of all deaths. Recent statutory changes mean that we now review all non-coronial deaths in both our acute hospital and community.

About us

Here at George Eliot our vision to\’ excel at patient care\’ takes centre stage. An ever evolving clinically-led acute service provider we are on a journey to continually provide high quality, safe and responsive services delivered by inspiring, friendly and compassionate staff who share our corporate values which underpin everything we do. Our values are not just words on a piece of paper, they bond us together, reflect our ambition and shape who we are:

E ffective Open Communication

ex cellence and safety in everything we do

C hallenge but support

E xpect respect and dignity

L ocal health that inspires confidence

Benefits: On-site nursery, 27 days minimum annual leave plus bank holidays, cycle to work scheme, flexible working, in house training and development, buying and selling of annual leave, subsidised restaurant, tranquillity garden and generous subsidised on-site parking.

Job responsibilities

Medical examiners (MEs) receive a combination of e-learning and face-to-face training via the Royal College of Pathologists, and are encouraged to take medical Examiner membership of the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPathME). It is recommended that MEs are consultant grade doctors from a range of disciplines (including GP principals).

MEs will take a consistent approach to the formulation of MCCD content, which must be clinically accurate. MEs must be independent and not have been involved in the care of the deceased patients for deaths they scrutinise. They work as part of a team of Medical Examiners and Medical Examiners Officers.

This position reports to the Trust Lead Medical Examiner, with dual accountability to both the Trust Medical Director, and the Regional Medical Examiner, and ultimately the National Medical Examiner.

These roles are part-time and are to be performed as part of a job plan that contains clinical and other activities. Multiple PAs are available in this round of recruitment.

Medical Examiners have a number of responsibilities including:

• To ensure compliance with the legal and procedural requirements associated with the current 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 national guidance.
• 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.
• 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, timely records of all deaths scrutinised, enabling analysis to provide information to healthcare providers and the National Medical Examiners office.
• 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 adopt a collaborative working relationship with other MEs by sharing experiences and expertise to support peer learning and set uniform standards of service delivery.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Medical examiners (MEs) receive a combination of e-learning and face-to-face training via the Royal College of Pathologists, and are encouraged to take medical Examiner membership of the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPathME). It is recommended that MEs are consultant grade doctors from a range of disciplines (including GP principals).

MEs will take a consistent approach to the formulation of MCCD content, which must be clinically accurate. MEs must be independent and not have been involved in the care of the deceased patients for deaths they scrutinise. They work as part of a team of Medical Examiners and Medical Examiners Officers.

This position reports to the Trust Lead Medical Examiner, with dual accountability to both the Trust Medical Director, and the Regional Medical Examiner, and ultimately the National Medical Examiner.

These roles are part-time and are to be performed as part of a job plan that contains clinical and other activities. Multiple PAs are available in this round of recruitment.

Medical Examiners have a number of responsibilities including:

• To ensure compliance with the legal and procedural requirements associated with the current 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 national guidance.
• 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.
• 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, timely records of all deaths scrutinised, enabling analysis to provide information to healthcare providers and the National Medical Examiners office.
• 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 adopt a collaborative working relationship with other MEs by sharing experiences and expertise to support peer learning and set uniform standards of service delivery.

About You

• You must be a Medical Practitioner registered and licensed to practise in the UK by the GMC.
• You should have up-to-date knowledge of causes of death and an understanding of the legal frameworks associated with death certification processes.
• You will have good IT skills including use of email and commonly used software.
• You will have knowledge of the special requirements of various faith groups and respect for equality and diversity.
• You will have 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.

For a full comprehensive list of main responsibilities and duties, please kindly refer to job description and person specification attached.

Person Specification

Experience and Knowledge

• Experience of undertaking clinical case note reviews as part of Mortality and Morbidity or Serious Incident process
• Commitment to maintain knowledge and keep general medical skills and knowledge up to date.
• Ability to act proportionately and report sub-standard clinical and organisational performance to relevant colleagues to protect patients and to identify good practice and ensure the spread of knowledge amongst relevant colleagues
• Part 2 Cremation Form Completion process
• Working knowledge of practice in a healthcare environment,
• Up to date knowledge of clinical causes of death, together with death certification requirements and processes.
• Ability to distinguish between natural and unnatural causes of death and when death must be reported to, and investigated by, a coroner.
• Awareness of equality and diversity issues within the community and a demonstrable ability to understand the requirements of diverse faith groups
• Medical degree. Held a GMC licence to practice for minimum 5 years.
• Satisfactory on going yearly appraisal
• Successful completion of the approved core components of the national on-line training curriculum prior to undertaking case record reviews as a Medical Examiner
• No current performance issues
• Good oral communication skills, including active listening skills, the ability to understand and summarise a discussion, ask appropriate questions, provide constructive challenge and give effective feedback.
• Ability to demonstrate transparency when explaining cause of death to bereaved families and make it easier to raise concerns.
• Able to work independently and autonomously and manage own workload.
• Demonstrates a commitment to and focus on quality.
• Good working relationships and credibility with professional colleagues and relevant stakeholders.
• Experience of applying principles of Quality Improvement
• Chair of Speciality Mortality and Morbidity or Audit Group
• Knowledge of legal framework and relevant jurisdiction relating to the process of death certification
• Detailed knowledge of the relevant legislation and processes which apply to: ?coroners; ?registering deaths; ?cremations and burials
• Knowledge of clinical governance systems as they affect the work of professionals and organisations.
• Significant commitment to on-going personal education and development.
• oPromotes high standards to consistently improve patient outcomes.

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.

£105,504 to £139,882 a yearSalary will be dependent on experience

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