Medical Examiner Officer

Walsall Council; Walsall; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A local council in the UK is seeking a Medical Examiner to manage death certification processes and serve as a liaison for bereaved families. The ideal candidate will support the Medical Examiner team, participate in reviews, and ensure inclusive practices. This role is critical in maintaining high standards in death investigations and communication. Location: Walsall Manor Hospital.

Responsibilities

• Implement National statutory death certification reforms for improved processes.
• Collaborate with the Medical Examiner team for service provision.
• Act as an intermediary between families and clinicians regarding deaths.

Job description

Key Responsibilities

• Implement National statutory death certification reforms to improve processes of death certification and coroner referral.
• Collaborate with the Medical Examiner team to provide and maintain the Medical Examiners Service.
• Act as an intermediary between bereaved families and clinicians to resolve concerns related to a patient’s death.
• Assist the Medical Examiner in establishing the circumstances of individual patient deaths by performing preliminary reviews of medical records and sourcing additional information when required.
• Highlight cases for assessment by the Structured Judgement Review team (SJR), Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP), Clinical Governance teams and the Learning Disability Review Teams (LeDeR).
• Refer patients to the coroner for further investigation upon approval by the Medical Examiner.
• Maintain awareness of the diverse needs of users of the medical examiner system to ensure equality for all groups defined by sex, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or disability.
• Support Medical Examiners in scrutinising the circumstances and causes of death, serving as a point of contact and source of advice for relatives of deceased patients, healthcare professionals, the coroner and registration services.
• Contact and discuss the agreed cause of death and any concerns about care with bereaved relatives in a transparent, tactful, and sympathetic manner, respecting diverse needs.
• Serve as a liaison with bereavement teams, PALS, and End‑of‑Life Care teams to provide comprehensive support.
• Identify cases where care provided requires reporting as an adverse or serious incident investigation to the Safety and Risk Team.
• Maintain a working knowledge of various faith groups’ funeral practices to ensure respectful compliance with tight timescales and procedures.
• Participate in out‑of‑hours rota to facilitate urgent requests for documentation and expedite release of deceased bodies on faith grounds or other reasonable requests.

Location: Walsall Manor Hospital, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust.

PLEASE NOTE, WE MAY CLOSE THIS VACANCY EARLY IF WE RECEIVE HIGH NUMBERS OF APPLICATIONS.