Medical Examiner

The Plymouth Medical Examiner service is an independent service based at Derriford Hospital. Applications are encouraged from Consultants, GP Principals and senior career-grade doctors of all specialties, particularly those with experience of community medicine.

In 2007, in response to the recommendations of the Shipman Inquiry, the Department of Health called for reform of the current death certification process. Based upon the Inquiry's findings, the DH proposed that a new role of Medical Examiner be established within healthcare environments. The post holder will be required to cover Tuesday PM sessions.

The Trusts Medical Examiner team was established in 2020. During the subsequent 2 years the team have achieved their target of scrutiny of 100% of all adult acute hospital deaths. This was a huge achievement during such unprecedented times.

Medical examiners are appropriately trained senior doctors who perform a scrutiny of the medical records of all deceased patients, they discuss the proposed cause of death with the team and they explain the cause of death to the bereaved families, and ascertain if there are any family concerns. Medical Examiners can also help to identify whether a case requires referral to the Coroners Office.

Medical Examiners will be expected to share full information to inform mortality reviews and clinical governance systems to support the learning from deaths process.

One of the main strengths of the Medical Examiner system is the increased engagement with bereaved families identifying potential areas of concern in terms of treatment and care.

Preference is given to internal Trust staff, as well as ‘Priority’ and 'At Risk' status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification. We are a people business where every member of staff matters and can make a difference. Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Joining University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust means becoming part of a team of dedicated staff, who are committed to leading the way through innovation, clinical excellence and great customer care. The Trust has great opportunities for career development in a highly progressive working environment. We offer all of this in a vibrant, modern city with a historic reputation for adventure. ALL COMMUNICATION WILL BE ELECTRONIC, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT.

We are looking to appoint 1 Medical Examiners to join the team on a minimum of 1PA (4 hours) sessional basis to help the team as they rollout to the community deaths.
- To support on the development and embedding of the roles of Medical Examiner (ME) and Medical Examiner Office (MEO) at UHP with the aim of ensuring commencement of a full time ME service by April 2024
- To 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.
- Explain to bereaved relatives the cause of death in a transparent, tactful and sympathetic manner, which respects different faith, cultural, ethnic and diversity considerations or delegate where appropriate for the Medical Examiner Officer to do so.
- Support the training of junior doctors in completion of MCCDs and provide feedback on accuracy of certification locally
- To scrutinise the certified causes of death offered by attending doctors in a way that is proportionate, consistent and compliant with the proposed national protocol.
- Identify deaths that could potentially be reported as untoward serious incidents via the trust governance systems
- To participate in relevant clinical governance activities relating to death certification including audits, mortality review processes and investigations regarding formal complaints about patient care.
- Liaise with the Lead Medical Examiner and Medical Director if additional themes for learning from deaths are identified that are not captured in the above processes
- Work with the other ME’s in the Trust to arrange reciprocal cover for holidays and other periods of absence and also to ensure that there is no potential conflict of interest between the ME and the death being scrutinised
- To maintain comprehensive records of all deaths scrutinised and undertake analysis to provide information to the National Medical Examiner’s office.
- To work with medical examiner officers (MEOs), delegating duties as appropriate.
- To undertake delegated engagement with lead ME and lead MEO for the region.
- To adopt a collaborative working relationship with other MEs by sharing experiences and expertise to support peer learning and set uniform standards of service delivery.