Job summary
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Trust wishes to appoint a Consultant grade Medical Examiner based at the West Middlesex Site.
The Medical Examiner's Office is looking to appoint a knowledgeable, enthusiastic and forward thinking Consultant, ideally from one of the Surgical Specialties but this is not mandatory. Experience in mortality or hospital governance would be beneficial.
This is a 1PA role fixed for 12 months and for further extension upon review.
The successful candidate will join a team of eight experienced and friendly Consultant Medical Examiners working as a team across the Trust and routinely providing scrutiny for 100 per cent of adult and child deaths. The service has commenced delivering a community scrutiny service, which may also involve a rota of out of hours on call duties.
The Medical Examiner's Office at the West Middlesex site comprises 5 Consultant Medical Examiners and 2 Medical Examiners Officers.
For further information or informal visits please contact:
Dr Elora Mukherjee, Lead Medical Examiner, West Middlesex Site (elora.mukherjee1@nhs.net)
Ms Vivia Richards, General Manager for Trust's Medical Examiner Service (vivia.richards@nhs.net)
Main duties of the job
- To ensure compliance with the legal and procedural requirements
- To scrutinise the certified causes of death offered by attending doctors in a way that is proportionate, consistent and compliant
- To discuss and explain the cause of death with next of kin/informants in a transparent, tactful and sympathetic manner
- To ensure that users of the ME system are treated with respect and are not discriminated against
- To maintain comprehensive records of all deaths via the Trust's risk management system
- To maintain up to date working knowledge of all necessary IT systems
- To participate in relevant clinical governance activities
- To support the training of junior doctors in their understanding of death certification
- To work with medical examiner officers (MEOs), delegating duties as appropriate.
- To engage with the Lead ME and lead MEO for the region
- To adopt a collaborative working relationship with other MEs/MEOs across the Trust
- To participate in the ME rota and show flexibility in filling rota gaps, working both on site and remotely.
- Awareness of equality and diversity issues within the community and a demonstrable ability to understand the requirements of diverse faith groups
About us
The Medical Examiner's Office at the West Middlesex site comprises 5 Consultant Medical Examiners and 2 Medical Examiners Officers.
We are piloting an extended hours service for urgent cases on the weekend and bank holiday, which we would like you to be part of therota. This requires you to be available between 7.30-9.30am on days you are on-call to process any urgent cases.
Mandatory requirements:
- GMC registration with Certificate for Completion of Specialist Training (CCT)
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Medical Examiner is to act as an independent reviewer of patient deaths, to ensure referrals to the coroner are appropriate, to review the Medical Certificates of Cause of Death (MCCDs) and liaise with the doctor or senior team members as appropriate and liaise with the bereaved relatives to explain the cause of death and take note of any concerns.
There is already a well-established Medical Examiner Service based at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust which is comprised of part-time Medical Examiners and Medical Examiner Officers (providing administrative and managerial support).
We are currently in the second phase of implementation where the practice is expanding into the Community setting. The Trust is looking to recruit Consultants and GPs to help support the expansion of the office and is keen for doctors to join our service in the role promoting transparency and independent scrutiny of all non-coronial deaths.
See attached job description for responsibilities and further detail.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Medical Examiner is to act as an independent reviewer of patient deaths, to ensure referrals to the coroner are appropriate, to review the Medical Certificates of Cause of Death (MCCDs) and liaise with the doctor or senior team members as appropriate and liaise with the bereaved relatives to explain the cause of death and take note of any concerns.
There is already a well-established Medical Examiner Service based at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust which is comprised of part-time Medical Examiners and Medical Examiner Officers (providing administrative and managerial support).
We are currently in the second phase of implementation where the practice is expanding into the Community setting. The Trust is looking to recruit Consultants and GPs to help support the expansion of the office and is keen for doctors to join our service in the role promoting transparency and independent scrutiny of all non-coronial deaths.
See attached job description for responsibilities and further detail.
Person Specification
Knowledge
Essential
- MEs should have up-to-date knowledge of causes of death and an understanding of the legal frameworks associated with death certification processes
- Ability to manage and comply with sensitive information based processes under tight timescales with a proportionate approach
- Knowledge of local and national clinical governance systems and an understanding of how the ME can work collaboratively to improve patient safety by identifying suboptimal clinical and organisational performance)
- Strong interpersonal skills demonstrating the ability to communicate in difficult and emotional situations with empathy and professionalism
- Ability to work as part of a team and organise a fluctuating workload around competing priorities and numerous interruptions
- Proactive and self-motivated with a flexible working approach.
Shortlisting Criteria
Essential
- MEs should have up-to-date knowledge of causes of death and an understanding of the legal frameworks associated with death certification processes
Person Specification
Knowledge
Essential
- MEs should have up-to-date knowledge of causes of death and an understanding of the legal frameworks associated with death certification processes
- Ability to manage and comply with sensitive information based processes under tight timescales with a proportionate approach
- Knowledge of local and national clinical governance systems and an understanding of how the ME can work collaboratively to improve patient safety by identifying suboptimal clinical and organisational performance)
- Strong interpersonal skills demonstrating the ability to communicate in difficult and emotional situations with empathy and professionalism
- Ability to work as part of a team and organise a fluctuating workload around competing priorities and numerous interruptions
- Proactive and self-motivated with a flexible working approach.
Shortlisting Criteria
Essential
- MEs should have up-to-date knowledge of causes of death and an understanding of the legal frameworks associated with death certification processes
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).