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Job summary

Main area
Bereavement
Grade
Band 3
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday)
Job ref
197-KH8826
Employer
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Town
Woolwich
Salary
£25,760 - £27,476 Per annum plus HCA
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
26/10/2026 23:59

Employer heading

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust logo

Bereavement Officer

Band 3

Please refer to the Applicant Guide via this link for key information:- Applying to LGT Guide - Key Information for Applicants 

 

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.

Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.

We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 – the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.

To achieve this we value Respect, Compassion, and Inclusion; Being accountable over  staying comfortable; Listening  over always knowing best; and Succeeding together over achieving alone. You can read more about our visions and values here

Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as “good” or “outstanding” in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.

LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King’s College London’s GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.

We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the ICS in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

Job overview

We are seeking a Bereavement Officer to join our team at LGT. In this role you will be working in a complex and demanding environment of the hospital that offers support to bereaved families.

Your responsibilities will include supporting enquiries from the bereaved Next Of Kin, medical staff and various administrative staff within and outside of the Trust. You will be providing support and guidance to people who are going through one of the hardest and most stressful times of their lives.

The post holder will assist the Bereavement Supervisor in providing a sensitive yet planned systematic approach to the procedures and the formalities that must be completed following the death of a patient.

The post holder will assist in the day-to-day running of the service, working collaboratively with the Medical Examiner Officers (MEOs).

Main duties of the job

·         Assist in the day-to-day running of the office and provide guidance to those using the service.

·         Liaise with medical staff regarding the completion of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD), in accordance with agreed procedures.

·         Maintain accurate and concise records of patient’s death and to ensure that all relevant health care agencies receive accurate and prompt notification of the patient’s death.

·         Ensure notification of death letters are sent to the deceased’s GP on the day the certificates are completed.

·         Ensure that all wards and critical care areas have adequate information and resources for the newly bereaved.

·         Assist in the facilitation of documentation for Public Health Funerals, with the local councils, where there is no next of kin.

·         Under the direction of the bereavement lead, support service development projects and assist with providing education to Trust staff about the bereavement service, in accordance with established procedures.

 

·         To work collaboratively with other Trust departments including Safeguarding, Infection control and the Mortality Review committee to ensure timely access to required information is provided

 

·         Maintain an awareness of the diverse needs of the deceased and the bereaved to ensure equality to any group defined by sex, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or disability.

 

 

Working for our organisation

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:

  1. Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
  2. Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
  3. Improving the experience of staff with disability
  4. Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
  5. Making equalities mainstream

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Process paperwork for donation of organs where the deceased is known to have expressed a wish for the same. Inform school of anatomy bequests of bodies.

Refers cases when a patient has died without next of kin to the local council.

To maintain accurate records of department activity daily.

To work collaboratively with all departments and other external agencies to ensure arrangements for those with faith requirements take place in a timely way.

Maintain an awareness of the diverse needs of the deceased and the bereaved to ensure equality to any group defined by sex, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or disability.

 

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Educated to NVQ level 2 plus additional experience equating to NVQ 3
  • Good level of computer literacy.
Desirable criteria
  • Knowledge of databases and spreadsheets

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Previous experience in an admin role
  • Experience of working with patients, families and staff, forming good relationships.
  • Experience of working with people in sensitive and emotional situations.
  • Extensive experience of working within a busy office environment.

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Ability to communicate effectively with a range of internal/external stakeholders
  • Understanding of bereavement
  • Knowledge of the special requirements of various faith groups and respect for equality and diversity of issues around formalities following a death.
Desirable criteria
  • General knowledge of clinical/medical terminology

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria
  • Reliable and adaptable to change; quick to learn; able to work on own initiative and as part of a team
  • Able to work to tight deadlines and within available resources
  • Able to work outside normal working hours on occasion, if necessary, to meet the needs of the department.
  • Able to apply tact and sensitivity to establish trust and confidence.
  • Able to work on any hospital site
Desirable criteria
  • Excellent attention to detail and good organisational skills

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Trust IDCapital Nurse, LondonVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoTimewise helps businesses to attract and develop the best talent through flexible working.No smoking policyLondon Living Wage is a voluntary commitment made by employers, who can become accredited with the Living Wage FoundationAge positiveDisability confident leaderArmed Forces Covenant (Silver Award)We offer Wagestream - A financial wellbeing benefit which lets you access your pay as you earn it.NHS Rainbow badgePrince's Trust - Proud to support the Prince's trust - Youth can do itStep into healthHappy to Talk Flexible WorkingArmed Forces Covenant

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Cherie Clare
Job title
Head of Bereavement
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07799 892 116
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