Job summary
- Main area
- Mortality
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 5
- Contract
- 6 months (fixed term contract)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 252-6792031
- Employer
- Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Darent Valley Hospital
- Town
- Dartford
- Salary
- £31,469 - £38,308 per annum inclusive of allowances
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 01/12/2024 23:59
Employer heading
Medical Examiner Officer (MEO)
NHS AfC: Band 5
Job overview
Since 09th September 2024, all deaths in any health setting that are not investigated by a Coroner will be reviewed by NHS medical examiners.
The Medical Examiner System offers bereaved families with greater transparency and opportunities to raise concerns, improves the quality/accuracy of medical certification of cause of death (Death Certificate), ensures referrals to coroners are appropriate and provides the public with greater safeguards through improved and consistent scrutiny of all non-coronial deaths, and support healthcare providers to improve care through better learning.
An exciting opportunity has arisen to work as a Medical Examiner Officer.
If you have good communication skills, if you are able to work in a highly pressurised environment, and if you are used to have difficult conversations, this may be an opportunity for you.
Work as a Medical Examiner Officer for 6 months and take your career to a different level.
This position will not be supported for visa sponsorship. All applicants are expected to have valid right to work document to work in the UK when applying for this position.
Main duties of the job
To support the Medical Examiners (ME) in their role in scrutinising the circumstances and causes of death. To be a point of contact and source of advice for the bereaved, healthcare professionals (hospital and community), HM Coroner and registration services.
To support in the integration and implementation of systems and processes relating to the Medical Examiner role and the national learning from deaths strategy.
To support the Senior Medical Examiner Officer (SMEO) to manage the Trust mortality systems ensuring internal and external qualitative and quantitative key performance indicators are managed and achieved.
Working for our organisation
We are committed to being an inclusive and diverse employer. We strive to employ people who reflect the communities we serve, and aim to create an inclusive culture where everyone can reach their full potential. Whatever your race, ethnicity, belief, generation, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, disability or experience, you’ll appreciate the opportunities we give you to work in an inclusive atmosphere. We welcome applications from people of diverse backgrounds, perspectives and experiences to build on the progress we’ve achieved to make our Trust diverse and the best place to work. We celebrate the diversity of thought, viewpoints and ideas that help us overcome challenges and embrace new possibilities. We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant Pledge and have a commitment to the Armed Forces Community.
We are dedicated to using our Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) approach as our shared organisation model of change to enhance our services and ensure excellence in patient care.
If you are considering applying for a role, please be aware that as an NHS Employee you may have contact with vulnerable service users. We strongly encourage that all our staff are vaccinated against COVID-19 and are vaccinated annually against Flu, in order to protect the health and safety of our staff and patients. Your commitment will help us to put the safety and care of our patients first, as well as helping us to protect you and your colleagues.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Professional responsibilities:
To act as an intermediary between the bereaved and clinicians to establish and escalate any concerns relating to the deceased death. Working with medical examiners to aid them in their responsibility for overseeing the death certification process for the deceased in the organisation and the non-acute sector;
To demonstrate integrity and apply the principle of independence to the MEO role in the context of the provision of independent scrutiny of causes of death, the care before death, and facilitation of feedback from the bereaved;
To establish the circumstances of the individual’s death 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 highlight to the Medical Examiner any inconsistences or areas of concern noted;
To utilise the Trust’s data systems and those of community partners to access all relevant records including the PAS and Pathology systems;
To utilise and maintain the Medical Examiner Service database and support the implementation of the National Medical Examiner’s data base;
To work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders for the purposes of ensuring statutory requirements are maintained;
To assist in highlighting cases for assessment/learning to the appropriate governance systems e.g. Structured Judgement Review team (SJR), Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP), Clinical Governance teams and the Learning Disability Review Teams (LeDeR);
To maintain an awareness of the diverse needs of users of the medical examiner system to ensure equality to any particular group defined by sex, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or disability;
To be aware of the Safeguarding Adult and Child frameworks and processes and liaise as required;
To be able to work on his/her own initiative, referring to the LMEO when necessary. To refer the deceased to the coroner for further investigation on approval by the medical examiner;
Please see attached job description for further information.
Person specification
Education and Training
Essential criteria
- Trained in the day-to-day operational management of a customer-facing service.
Desirable criteria
- Educated to Batchelor’s degree level, or evidence of study/equivalent practical experience at an advanced level; this might include nursing and/or other clinical experience.
Knowledge and Skills
Essential criteria
- 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.
- General knowledge 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.
- Knowledge of the Coroner & Justice Act 2009 with reference to the medical examiner system; and understanding of the medical examiner system operational remit.
- Understanding of how the medical examiner system aligns with other related organisations and NHS initiatives (LeDeR, CDOP)
- 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 e.g. for the National Medical Examiner’s office and Public Health surveillance.
- Ability to work as part of a team and organise fluctuating workload around competing priorities.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of working with people in sensitive and emotional situations.
- Experience of working in a healthcare setting with multi-disciplinary teams across organisational boundaries.
- Experience of using databases and extracting meaningful information from these.
- Experience of using a range of IT software.
- Evidence of participation in a formal appraisal system.
- Ability to assimilate a range of complex information and make judgments.
Desirable criteria
- Experience of delivering training programmes to groups of staff.
- Experience of using the Datix system
Personal Attributes
Essential criteria
- The ability to work in a highly pressurised, unpredictable environment where bereavement care is central to the service delivery.
- Able to demonstrate a professional manner to all stakeholders and when representing the Trust.
- Is self-motivated in managing own workload and anticipating support and guidance required by others.
- High level of accuracy and attention to detail.
- Demonstrates a high level of emotional intelligence
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post will require a submission for Disclosure to be made to check for any unspent criminal convictions.
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Telma Da Siva
- Job title
- Mortality and Bereavement Services Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01322 428100
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