Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

Medical Examiner

This job is now closed

Job summary

Portsmouth Medical Examiner Service are looking to recruit 2 Medical Examiners to broaden and strengthen our existing team of 16 MEs and 7 MEOs. The MEs are a diverse team of primary and secondary care clinicians and our MEOs are a mix of allied health professionals and non clinical-staff.

We are well established in our scrutiny of inpatient and community hospital deaths and successfully navigated the advent of the statutory system. Bereaved people are at the heart of what we do, giving them an opportunity to ask questions and raise concerns as well as providing an explanation of the MCCD and death certification process.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for colleagues to provide 1 session of 4 hours each week based on a 42 week year. You would be expected to offer sessions with a degree of flexibility to fulfil a rota. Some commitment is expected to fulfil requests for fast-track scrutiny out of hours but the area has low demand for this service. The job is based at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth.

During your session, you will scrutinise a mixture of hospital and community cases to ensure accuracy of death certification, pick up governance issues and learning opportunities.

About us

Here at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, we are proud to provide expert, compassionate care for our local population. We are ranked as the third in the country for research, embedding education and training across the organisation. Our main hub is the Queen Alexandra Hospital, which is one of the largest hospitals on the south coast employing over 8,700 staff.

Our patients come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds because it makes our hospital stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for getting it right for patients, colleagues, and our community, you will find a home at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust.

Date posted

11 October 2024

Pay scheme

Hospital medical and dental staff

Grade

Consultant

Salary

£10,550 to £13,988 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

REF1054I

Job locations

Southwick Hill Road

Portsmouth

PO6 3LY

Job description

Job responsibilities

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 Examiners office.
To participate in relevant clinical governance activities relating to death certification including audits, mortality review processes and investigations regarding formal complaints about patient care.
To support the training of junior 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.
The timetabling of the duties will be discussed after appointment with the successful candidate, the Lead Medical Examiner, and their CD to reflect in their job plan.
Support those doctors who call for medical advice on suspected natural causes of death before they prepare an MCCD and provide general medical advice to the coroner.
Work with the any other local medical examiner(s) in LA/LHB or elsewhere 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 medical examiner and the death being scrutinised.

Job description

Job responsibilities

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 Examiners office.
To participate in relevant clinical governance activities relating to death certification including audits, mortality review processes and investigations regarding formal complaints about patient care.
To support the training of junior 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.
The timetabling of the duties will be discussed after appointment with the successful candidate, the Lead Medical Examiner, and their CD to reflect in their job plan.
Support those doctors who call for medical advice on suspected natural causes of death before they prepare an MCCD and provide general medical advice to the coroner.
Work with the any other local medical examiner(s) in LA/LHB or elsewhere 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 medical examiner and the death being scrutinised.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Full GMC registration with a licence to practice
As a pre-condition of practicing, an Medical Examiner must have successfully completed the mandatory components of the national online medical examiner curriculum. Face-to-face training must be completed within the first three months of being in post.

Experience

Essential

Must have at least 5 years post-Registration medical experience.
Medical Examiners should have up-to-date knowledge of causes of death and an understanding of the legal frameworks associated with death certification processes.
Knowledge of local and national clinical governance systems and an understanding of how the Medical Examiner can work collaboratively to improve patient safety by identifying sub-optimal clinical and organisational performance

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Full GMC registration with a licence to practice
As a pre-condition of practicing, an Medical Examiner must have successfully completed the mandatory components of the national online medical examiner curriculum. Face-to-face training must be completed within the first three months of being in post.

Experience

Essential

Must have at least 5 years post-Registration medical experience.
Medical Examiners should have up-to-date knowledge of causes of death and an understanding of the legal frameworks associated with death certification processes.
Knowledge of local and national clinical governance systems and an understanding of how the Medical Examiner can work collaboratively to improve patient safety by identifying sub-optimal clinical and organisational performance

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.