Job overview

To participate in the implementation of the National statutory death certification reforms to improve the processes of death certification and Coronial referral.

To work with Medical Examiner team to fulfil the National statutory requirement to provide and maintain the Medical Examiners Service.

To act as an intermediary between the bereaved and clinicians to establish and resolve any concerns relating to a patient’s death. Work with medical examiners to aid them in their responsibility for overseeing the death certification process for all non-Coronial deaths. 

To assist the Medical Examiner in establishing the circumstances of individual patient deaths by performing a preliminary review of medical records to identify clinical and circumstantial information, sourcing additional information where required.

To assist in highlighting 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).

To refer patients to the coroner for further investigation on approval by the medical examiner

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.

The successful candidate will be based at Walsall Manor Hospital.

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

Main duties of the job

 To support medical examiners in their role in scrutinising circumstances and causes of death.  To be a point of contact and source of advice for bereaved families.

 On delegation by the Medical Examiner, contact and discuss the agreed cause of death and any concerns about care with bereaved relatives in a transparent, empathetic manner. Respect the diverse needs of bereaved relatives considering gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability.

Have a working knowledge of medical conditions, treatments and medicines being able to exercise clinical judgement in when to seek further advice from the Medical Examiner, senior or lead Medical Examiner Officer.

Be a point of contact and source of advice for relatives of deceased patients, healthcare professionals, coroner and registration services, bereavement team, PALS and End-of-Life Care teams.

Support Medical Examiners to identify cases where there are issues with the care provided that may need to be reported as an adverse incident or serious incident investigation to the Safety and Risk Team. 

Have a working knowledge of various faith groups practices following a death.

Participate in out of hours rota to facilitate requests for urgent issue of the appropriate documentation to expedite release of the deceased body on faith grounds or on any other reasonable request.

Working for our organisation

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust is an integrated Trust and the only provider of NHS acute care in Walsall, serving a population of 284,300. It provides inpatient and outpatient services at the Manor Hospital as well as a wide range of services in the community. Walsall Manor houses the full range of district general hospital services under one roof. The £170 million development was completed in 2010, and ongoing upgrades ensure the Trust now has state-of-the-art facilities, including a Critical Care Unit, Neonatal Unit, Obstetric Theatre, and Integrated Assessment Unit. A new Urgent and Emergency Care Centre, opened in March 2023, has significantly improved emergency care facilities and capacity, providing almost 5,000 square metres of additional clinical space.