Medical Examiner

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Luton; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK healthcare provider is seeking a Medical Examiner to ensure accurate death certification and compliance with legal standards. You will work in a dynamic team, scrutinising causes of death and supporting bereaved families with sensitivity. The role involves collaboration with various healthcare professionals and participation in clinical governance activities. Ideal candidates should be registered medical practitioners with at least five years of experience and possess strong interpersonal skills. Comprehensive training will be provided.

Qualifications

• Experience as a registered medical practitioner for a minimum of five years.
• Knowledge of causes of death and death certification processes.
• Ability to communicate with empathy in difficult situations.

Responsibilities

• Scrutinise certified causes of death with legal compliance.
• Discuss cause of death with relatives sympathetically.
• Participate in clinical governance activities.

Skills

Strong interpersonal skills

Ability to manage sensitive information

IT skills including use of email and clinical applications

Education

Registered medical practitioner licensed to practise in the UK

Job description

Go back Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Medical Examiner

The closing date is 12 December 2025

We are looking to expand our Medical Examiner Service. Routine mortality reviews of all inpatient deaths have been taking place at Luton & Dunstable Hospital since 2018 providing scrutiny for all inpatient deaths at the hospital, and we have developed an excellent working relationship with our Superintendent Registrar, Coroner and Coroner's Officers locally. We have been working with two local GP's to develop a streamlined process which will allow Luton & Bedfordshire GP practices to refer deaths to the service for review. This has been trialled with a group of three practices over the past few months, and it is now ready to be offered to all other practices in the area. We are a supportive, experienced and dynamic team from a range of clinical backgrounds, and we are now looking to recruit new medical practitioners to the team to deal with the doubling of workload that will accompany this imminent change. As a new Medical Examiner, you will be supported by the team as we grow the service. Training is hosted by the Royal College of Pathologists with peer support being provided in the new role by the existing medical examiners. This is a highly rewarding role that provides essential safeguards within the death certification process, provides support to the bereaved, supports correct referral to HM Coroner and supports system wide learning and improvement.

Main duties of the job

Medical examiners (MEs) are appropriately trained doctors who will proportionately scrutinise deceased patients' records against the Cause of Death offered by the certifying practitioner. They are responsible for ensuring that

• the Cause of Death is accurate, and meets the legal requirements for registration
• there is no requirement for referral of the case to the Coroner for review
• any concerns about the death raised by any concerned party are reviewed and actioned accordingly
• any concerns about the standard of care received by the deceased are escalated appropriately for investigation for system-wide learning
• maintain comprehensive electronic records of all deaths scrutinised in approved Trust applications, and undertake analysis to provide information to the National Medical Examiner's office
• participate in relevant clinical governance activities relating to death certification including audits, mortality review processes and investigations regarding formal complaints about patient care, where appropriate and with the agreement of the Lead Medical Examiner
• support the training of junior doctors in their understanding of death certification and promote good practice in accurate completion of MCCDs
• work with medical examiner officers (MEOs), delegating duties as appropriate

About us

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. We achieve this by using values based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity, and creating a culture that values differences.

Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job.

Job responsibilities

• 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
• Scrutinise the certified causes of death offered by attending doctors in a way that is proportionate, consistent and compliant with the proposed national protocol
• Discuss and explain the cause of death with next of kin/informants in a transparent, tactful and sympathetic manner. It is expected that such discussions will be predominately conducted through telephone conversations where barriers to understanding information may exist. These discussions may be delegated to a Medical Examiners Officer if appropriate

Medical Examiners are not allowed to scrutinise the death of any patient whose care they have been involved in.

These posts are being created to build capacity in preparation for the introduction of the mandatory review of all deaths by a Medical Examiner before registration can occur.

• 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
• A degree of flexibility, and some weekend working is likely to be required, but will not be unduly onerous: exact details will depend on the legislation currently being drawn up by the Government
• Engage with lead ME and lead MEO for the region
• Adopt a collaborative working relationship with other MEs by sharing experiences and expertise to support peer learning and set uniform standards of service delivery

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registered medical practitioner, licensed to practise in the UK by the GMC for a minimum of five years.

Knowledge and Experience

• MEs should have up-to-date knowledge of causes of death and an understanding of the legal frameworks associated with death certification processes
• Knowledge of the special requirements of various faith groups and respect for equality and diversity
• Knowledge of local and national clinical governance systems and processes, including the application of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF)
• Sustain professional integrity and independence at all times, particularly where there is the potential for a conflict of interest
• Completion of the 26 Royal College of Pathologists Medical examiner core training modules must be completed prior to commencement of role

Perosnal kills

• Strong interpersonal skills demonstrating the ability to communicate in difficult and emotional situations with empathy and professionalism
• Ability to review case notes and make decisions, including identifying opportunities for learning, in a non-judgemental way.
• Ability to undertake a concise and proportionate primary review, identifying the salient issues and the most appropriate and proportionate route of escalation for further in-depth investigation if problems in care are identified
• Ability to manage and comply with sensitive information-based processes under tight timescales with a proportionate and non-judgemental approach.
• Ability to identify available data sources to support the detection and analysis of concerns and to recognise gaps in available knowledge.
• Ability to work as part of a team and organise a fluctuating workload around competing priorities and numerous interruptions.
• IT skills including use of email and commonly used software and clinical applications

Other

• Candidates must have successfully completed the mandatory e-learning modules to be eligible for appointment.
• Candidates must attend a face-to-face training session within the first three months in post.
• Additional learning modules will need to be completed within one year of appointment to ensure adequate CPD in the first year in the role
• Following the introduction of the statutory requirement for ME review of all deaths before registration, there may be a requirement for out of hours working. This is currently provided on a voluntary basis and not all ME Offices are required to provide this level of service, this may be subject to change, requiring participation in an out of hours rota by all MEs.

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.

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Depending on experience1 PA (0.1 WTE) each week on Tuesdays either morning or afternoon