Lead Medical Examiner Officer

Overview

We are seeking a Lead Medical Examiner Officer (MEO) to lead a small team of MEOs, work closely with Medical Examiners (ME) and share innovative practice in data management, collating mortality reports and linking in with our NHS England Regional ME / MEO. You will be supported by the Group Head of Bereavement, Mortuary and ME Services as you coordinate day to day office services, including rosters and line management of the team. This national statutory service led by NHS England ensures accuracy of certification of the cause of death and to improve involvement of bereaved people in the process. The aim is to scrutinise all deaths within acute hospitals and local communities. We are committed to maintaining and developing a responsive and fluid service, adaptable to the needs of our trust, our communities, and our workforce.

The Medical Examiner system contributes to and enhances governance, accuracy and the service to grieving friends and families, working closely with the Trust Bereavement Service.

Working for our organisation

We are seeking a full time senior Medical Examiner\’s Officer to be based cross sites for the Royal Free Group. This is alongside our Bereavement and Mortuary teams, where we work closely together in supporting bereaved people. The post holder is included in senior staff forums within these three services and has access to Royal Free personal and professional development opportunities.

Role details

The role is full time: 37.5 hours a week, including occasional hours rostered at weekends and public holidays according to service need.

Principal functions and responsibilities

• Leadership and oversight for: leadership and support for strategic direction of the management of the MEOs and support to Medical Examiners (MEs) across the RFHNHSFT
• Maintain the National Model across the RFHNHSFT
• Unification and accountability for mandated quarterly report to the Regional ME office
• Oversight and assurance reports for services provided
• Responsible to the Lead Medical Examiner for financial performance relating to delegated budgets and operational performance of the service
• Facilitation and catalyst for innovation and new services e.g., community services and the extended hours service
• Oversight for provision of the services to the bereaved with explanation, transparency and early opportunity to ask questions or raise concerns and to liaise with the Bereavement officers
• Oversight for accuracy and quality in all aspects of the medical certification of the cause of death
• Oversight and robust process in place to ensure appropriate referral to the Coroner
• Safeguard the public through consistent scrutiny of all non-coronal deaths
• Support clinical governance in learning and improvement
• Contribute to 7 day a week extended ME service delivery

Key Working Relationships

• Lead Medical Examiner and direct reports
• Trust Medical Examiners
• Bereavement officers
• Hospital doctors and consultants
• Chaplaincy
• Mortuary staff
• Service managers
• Group Head of Bereavement, Mortuary and Medical Examiner Service
• Nurses
• Business Intelligence Unit
• Clinical Governance Leads
• Quality Improvement Team
• Clinical Effectiveness and Patient Experience staff
• Administration staff within the NHS
• HM Coroner and their officers in two jurisdictions
• Spiritual/Faith community leads
• Local Authorities and Public Health Departments (e.g., Registrar\’s office)
• GPs and practice staff
• Bereaved relatives, carers and executors/solicitors
• Funeral directors
• Crematoria Managers
• Regional ME and Regional MEO
• National Medical Examiner
• Clinical Outcomes & Effectiveness Team members, Senior Project managers working with Divisions and Learning from Death and End of Life specialists

+ Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. Before submitting your application and to avoid disappointment please check that you are eligible under the UKVI points based system.

+ If you are offered a role with one of the NLPSS partner trusts, as part of pre-employment checks your identity and right to work documentation will be verified remotely, using a certified identity verification service provider TrustID. You will be asked to capture an image of the relevant documents as well as a \”selfie\” using your smartphone/tablet (if available) for facial matching. TrustID will also perform a digital address check using Trunarrative and Equifax, which is a soft check and does not leave a footprint on your credit rating. For more information, visit www.trustid.co.uk

+ The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.

+ The Trust will request a DBS (CRB) if post involves regulated activities. The Trust is compliant with the Disclosure and Barring Service Codes of practice and the Rehabilitation of offenders act.

+ By applying for this post you are agreeing to Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

+ Please be aware of scams – unless specified above, we will only communicate with you via @recruit.trac.jobs or nhs.net e-mails and we will never ask you for any payments.

For further support on submitting an application please refer to the NLPSS Applicant Toolkit: https://royalfree.pagetiger.com/cuuomnr/1

Additional information

Are you looking for a new challenge in a friendly, collaborative service, who aim to deliver a professional and compassionate service? If so, we are keen to hear from you.

Our trust has over 17,000 staff serving 2 million patients every year. It comprises Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and more than 30 services in the community. This larger scale organisation provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue our pioneering work, particularly in finding ways to deliver even better care to our patients.

Our mission is to deliver world class care and expertise in our clinical services, underpinned by world class teaching and research and we will continue to measure our progress against our five governing objectives: excellent outcomes, excellent patient and staff experience, excellent value for taxpayers\’ money, being safe and meeting our external duties, and building a strong organisation.

Everyone is welcome at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We are proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME, gender equality, staff carers and people with disabilities and lived experiences to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.