Clinical Medical Examiner Officer

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

There is a new opportunity available for Clinical Medical Examiner Officer. Please see below details of the criteria that is essential for the role.

• Essential: Educated to degree level in a health care profession.
• Preference will be given to candidates with Nursing or ACP qualifications.
• Experience: Ward or Clinical Department Deputy Manager or Community Health Services Team Leader (or equivalent) or Clinical Nurse Specialist (or Allied Health Professional Equivalent).
• Preference will be given to candidates with LLR/NHS multi agency experience.
• Essential: Very broad clinical knowledge and terminology.
• Strong IT Skills.
• Please note: There will be no direct client care.
• Please arrange a visit to the ME Office either at the Leicester Royal Infirmary or Glenfield Hospital to get a good understanding of what is involved in the role.
• Start the National Online ME Officer training before attending for interview (if shortlisted).
• Previous applicants need not apply.
• This advert has been extended to the 29th April 2025, to account for the Easter Break.
• Interviews to take place on 22nd May 2025 at Clinical Education Centre, Leicester Royal Infirmary.

Main duties of the job

We are looking to recruit two experienced clinicians who can bring both their clinical expertise, communication and organisational skills to the role of Clinical Medical Examiner Officer.

The Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Medical Examiner Service works across all health organisations within LLR including the acute trust which is a tertiary referral centre. Our caseload is around 9,000 deaths per annum.

Job responsibilities

As Clinical Medical Examiner Officer you will:

• Support Medical Examiners in their role in scrutinising the circumstances and causes of death.
• Have daily responsibility for the ME Office effectiveness (on a rota basis with other Clinical MEO/Lead Clinical MEO).
• Be a point of contact and provide clinical advice on the Medical Examiners system for healthcare professionals including junior doctors, nursing teams, Hospice, GPs, Coroners Officers and Registration Services.
• Deputise for the Senior Clinical Medical Examiner Officer when required.
• Participate in the Out of Hours Medical Examiner process (weekends and bank holidays).

Key relationships include:

• Senior Clinical Medical Examiner Officer.
• Clinical/Medical Examiner Officers and Medical Examiners.
• Bereavement Services and Mortuary Team.
• Bereavement Support Nurses.
• Coroners Officers and Registrars.
• Specialty Heads of Services, Matrons and M&M Leads.
• General Practitioners; Practice Managers and Practice Admin Teams.
• Hospice Medical and Nursing Staff and Bereavement Team.
• Learning from Deaths Teams.
• Adult Specialty, Child, Perinatal, Learning Disability, Mental Health Mortality Leads.

Person Specification

Analytical and Judgement skills

• Ability to review and interpret clinical records (to include diagnostic tests, medication charts and clinical assessments/observations) and judge which information is relevant to support cause of death discussion and medical examiner scrutiny.
• Proven experience of analysing, investigating and interpreting complex data and producing reports.
• Experience of statistical analysis and report writing.
• Proven experience of Project management skills.

Experience

• Educated to degree level in a health care profession and Postgraduate qualification with postgraduate study, or working towards, evidence of ongoing CPD in a specialist clinical area.
• Experience of working in a health care setting with multi-disciplinary teams across organisational boundaries.
• To have an extensive understanding of medical terminology that enables interpretation of clinical information and informed discussions about causes/circumstances of death with bereaved families, clinicians, coroner and registration service staff.
• Nursing Registration (Adults/General).
• Ward or Clinical Department Deputy Manager or Community Health Services Team Leader (or equivalent) or Clinical Nurse Specialist (or Allied Health Professional Equivalent).

Communication and relationship skills

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to engage at all levels including senior clinicians/coroners etc about sensitive issues.
• Highly evolved empathetic and self-awareness skills to deal with bereaved families who may have barriers to understanding information due to their grief or disability.
• 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.
• Practical experience of working with the bereaved or families at 'end of life'.
• Experience of clinical 'advice and guidance' or 'triaging'.

Planning and Organisation

• Experience of planning a broad programme of activities and prioritising work to meet deadlines.
• Ability to organise work around changeable competing demands and fluctuating workloads.
• Ability to maintain a calm manner in a range of challenging and emotive circumstances.
• The ability to work in a highly pressurised, unpredictable environment where bereavement care is central to the service delivery.

Skills & Knowledge

• Computer literate to use multiple IT software (To include Microsoft Word, Excel), for producing reports and statistical information for the National Medical Examiner's office and Public Health surveillance.
• Knowledge of the special requirements of various faith groups and respect for equality and diversity of issues around formalities following a death.
• Knowledge of the Coroner & Justice Act 2009 reference to the medical examiner system.
• Involvement in multi-disciplinary/multi-agency working.
• Experience of working with a Medical Examiner Office.

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.

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust