Medical Examiner Officer Lead

George Eliot Hospital Nhs Trust; Nuneaton; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site nursery

27 days annual leave

Cycle to work scheme

Flexible working

On-site parking

Job summary

George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust is seeking a Medical Examiner Officer to support medical examiners in scrutinising the circumstances and causes of death. You will be a point of contact for relatives of deceased patients, healthcare professionals and coroner and registration services.

You will establish the circumstances of individual patient deaths by reviewing medical records, sourcing details, and coordinating with the Medical Examiner for scrutiny.

Qualifications

• Education at degree level or equivalent experience in a healthcare setting
• Experience in communicating with bereaved families and healthcare professionals
• Ability to analyse data and manage information securely

Responsibilities

• Educated to degree level and manage conditions of death reviews.
• Make judgements on workload and review procedures for death investigations.
• Maintain awareness of diverse user needs and ensure inclusive service delivery
• Line manage Medical Examiner Officers and organize rota for daily coverage
• Maintain secure handling of patient identifiable data and liaise with regional ME office
• Attend ME meetings and contribute to Directorate governance and training

Skills

Empathy

Interpersonal skills

Communication

Data analysis

IT skills

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree

Degree in healthcare

Tools

IT systems

Data management software

Job description

Job Summary

To support medical examiners in their role in scrutinising the circumstances and causes of death. To be a point of contact and source of advice for relatives of deceased patients, healthcare professionals and coroner and registration services.

Main duties of the job

• Act independently within statutory requirements governing all aspects of Medical review workload.
• To establish the circumstances of individual patient deaths by performing a preliminary review of medical records to identify clinical and circumstantial information, sourcing additional details where required, for scrutiny by the medical examiner.
• To assist in highlighting cases for further assessment through the Serious Incident Framework, Structured Judgment Review (SJR), Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP), Mortality and Morbidity Meetings (M&M) Directorate Governance Meetings and the Learning Disability Review (LeDeR).
• To refer patients to the coroner for further investigation on approval by the Medical Examiner
• To organise and manage the rota for the Medical Examiners to ensure daily cover.
• Maintain an awareness of the diverse needs of users of the medical examiner system to ensure equality to any group defined by sex, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or disability.
• Full compliance with secure handling of patient identifiable data is essential.
• To work with the Regional Medical Examiner Officer to maintain the Medical Examiner service in line with national proposals and lead the development of the Medical Examiner service in the community in conjunction with the Lead Medical Examiner.
• Attend regional MEO, Service and other ME Meetings when directed.
• Line manages the Medical Examiner Officer(s).

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: Effective Open Communication, excellence and safety in everything we do, Challenge but support, Expect respect and dignity, Local health that inspires confidence. Benefits include 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.

Details

Date posted: 30 July 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 6
Salary: £39,959 to £48,117 a year per annum
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 230-43736418-CORP-A
Job locations: George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, College Street, Nuneaton, CV10 7DU, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

• Educated to Batchelors degree level, or evidence of study/equivalent practical experience at an advanced level; this might include nursing and/or other clinical experience.
• 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.
• Make judgements regarding workload and performance management, assessment of review of deaths procedures, quality of outcomes and systems and processes.
• 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.
• Advance keyboard skills and use of IT packages.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Maintains databases and creates statistical reports
• Participate in education and training associated with and appropriate to the Medical Examiner service.
• To have an understanding of medical terminology that enables informed discussions about causes/circumstances of death with bereaved families, clinicians, coroner and registration service staff.
• Knowledge of the statutory process around death certification legal frameworks and how the medical examiner system aligns with other related organisations and NHS initiatives.
• Knowledge of a range of procedures and practices relating to the management and provision of death/mortality reviews acquired through formal training to degree level or equivalent experience.
• The ability to work in a highly pressurised, unpredictable environment where bereavement care is central to the service delivery.
• Specialist knowledge of various faith groups funeral wishes/practices to enable respectful compliance with tight and specific timescales and procedures.
• Computer literate to use multiple IT software for recording personal identifiable data and producing statistical information for the National Medical Examiners office and Public Health surveillance.

Person Specification

Experience and Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of a range of procedures and practices relating to the management and provision of death/mortality reviews acquired through formal training to degree level or equivalent experience
• Experience of working with people in sensitive and emotional situations.
• Make judgements regarding workload and performance management, assessment of review of deaths procedures, quality of outcomes and systems and processes.
• Advance keyboard skills and use of IT packages and the ability to analyse complex data
• Experience of working at a senior level in the NHS
• Experience of working in a healthcare setting with multi-disciplinary teams across organisational boundaries.
• Strong interpersonal skills demonstrating the ability to communicate in difficult and emotional situations with empathy and professionalism with all stakeholders.
• Acts independently within statutory requirements governing all aspects of Medical review workload
• Plan and organise complex medical examiner activities and programmes of work requiring developing, amending a broad range of complex activities, and adjustment of plans / strategies
• Knowledge of the Coroner & Justice Act 2009 reference to the medical examiner system. Full understanding of the medical examiner system operational remit.
• Completed e-learning MEO core training modules prior to starting in the post.
• Previous experience of training / supervising other staff

Desirable

• Knowledge of the special requirements of various faith groups and respect for equality and diversity of issues around formalities following a death.

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.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.