University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Medical Examiner

The closing date is 10 June 2025

Job summary

Following the successful transition into the statutory environment in Sept 2024, we are looking to increase the number of our Medical Examiners who will work alongside a diverse team of colleagues from both primary and secondary care.

As Medical Examiner, you will perform the scrutiny of the records of deceased patients and discuss the proposed cause of death with the attending doctor. Medical Examiners also talk through the cause of death with the bereaved families and establish if there are any family concerns. Medical Examiners can also help to identify whether a case requires referral to the Coroners Office or needs further investigation through the organisations mortality review process.

You will be supported by our Lead Medical Examiner together with our Medical Examiners Support Team.

We would be looking for the Medical Examiner to provide 1 session each week with additional sessions required as part of the out of hours service. We currently run a 6 day rota so we ask that candidates offer some flexibility (within reason) to fulfil the rota. The service currently runs 08:00 -- 16:00 Mon -- Fri with out of hours provision for urgent cases on Saturdays 09:00 -- 15:00 and non-religious bank holidays 09:00 -- 12:00.

Role is open to qualified doctors at consultant / GP level. Applicants must have current GMC registration and have completed the RCPath Medical Examiners Face to Face training within 3 months of being in post.

Main duties of the job

Main aims of the Medical Examiner will be to:

*Link in with our clinical teams, Medical Examiners support team, Coroners office and Community providers to provide assurance around the cause of death, deal with any concerns raised by NOK about the care of deceased relatives as well support the learning from deaths process.

*Improve the medical certification process including the quality and accuracy of the certification.

*Lead the delivery of a consistent scrutiny of all non-coronial deaths

*Support all colleagues to improve care through the delivery of training.

Further information can be found within the Job Description.

About us

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust strives to have an inclusive culture where everyone feels like they belong, can thrive, knows that they add value and feels valued. We do this by developing compassionate and culturally competent leaders, being values driven in all that we do and by creating a welcoming and inclusive workplace that thrives on the diversity of our people. As such we want to attract and recruit talented individuals from all backgrounds, and for each of you to feel supported for the diversity you bring, to achieve your full potential. For those staff with a disability, including physical disability, long term health condition, mental health or neurodiverse condition, this also means being committed to making reasonable adjustments needed for you to carry out your role.

Date posted

27 May 2025

Pay scheme

Hospital medical and dental staff

Grade

Consultant

Salary

£105,504 to £139,882 a year

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

24 months

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

304-KSA-1093396

Job locations

Trustwide

Mindelsohn Way

Birmingham

West Midlands

B15 2TH

Job description

Job responsibilities

Medical Examiners must be registered with a license to practise in the UK by the GMC, with at least

five years experience. The candidate must have been registered as a medical practitioner throughout

the previous five years as at the date of appointment. The main responsibilities of the ME are:

* 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.

* 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.

* To discuss and explain the cause of death with next of kin/informants in a transparent, tactful and

sympathetic manner. It is anticipated that such discussions will be predominately conducted through

telephone conversations where barriers to understanding information may exist.

* To ensure that all users of the ME system are treated with respect and are not discriminated against

on the grounds of sex, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or disability.

* To maintain comprehensive records of all deaths scrutinised and undertake analysis to provide

information to the National Medical Examiner office.

* To participate in relevant clinical governance activities relating to death certification including audits,

mortality review processes, benchmarking exercises and investigations regarding formal complaints

about patient care.

* To support the training of resident doctors in their understanding of death certification and promote

good practice in accurate completion of MCCDs.

* To work with medical examiner officers (MEOs), delegating duties as appropriate.

* To engage 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.

* To be present in the Medical Examiners office for a PA session each week as part of an ongoing rota.

There is an expectation that individuals demonstrate flexibility to fill rota gaps at any other hospital site

across UHB when these arise and provide availability as part of the out of hours ME rota.

[NOTE: the above list of duties is not exhaustive and is subject to change with Nationalupdates]

Please see the attached Job Description