Job summary
The post holder is to provide a timely and efficient Bereavement Service to the relatives of the deceased. To liaise closely with other statutory bodies such as HM Coroner and the Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages.
To ensure that the statutory paperwork required after death is completed promptly and accurately. To Liaise with the relatives of the deceased, HM Coroner, Registrar and the Funeral Directors to provide a seamless service.
The post holder is expected to demonstrate excellent communication skills, both written and verbal and significant experience of office skills to support the effective provision of the Trust Bereavement Service.
Main duties of the job
To liaise with appropriate medical staff in completing the medical certificate and cremation forms for all inpatient and community deaths.
To provide support to medical staff when a death needs reporting to HM Coroner and instruct on accessing the electronic pro former.
To work closely with the Coroners office and to give basic information.
To receive requests from the Coroners officers for the treating doctors to provide formal reports and statements.
To ensure that the religious and cultural requirements of the deceased are met whenever possible.
To ensure that Consent Form for removal of medical devices are correctly completed.
Liaise with wards, families and funeral directors to locate deceased patient property and the safe repatriation.
Liaising with Transplant Co-Ordinators and school of Medicine when required.
To liaise closely with the Mortuary Technicians to ensure that Trust procedures are followed.
Maintain a professional appearance in line with the Trust dress code.
Uphold the Trusts values and behaviours (available on the Trust web site) and behave in a manner fitting with the responsible position of the role, maintaining the public confidence.
Maintain professional and courteous working relationships with staff and respect the equality and diversity of each and every person he/she comes into contact with in the course of his/her business.
Uphold the privacy and dignity of the client group and respect equality at all times.
About us
We are an acute trust caring for over one million people in Wakefield and Kirklees. Our 10,000 staff members work in patients homes, the community, and our three hospitals in Pontefract, Dewsbury, and Pinderfields (Wakefield).
Committed to continuous improvement, we prioritise our people and values so we can deliver excellent patient experience. Our team is friendly, passionate and always seeking better ways to work through research and innovation.
We support work-life balance and foster a diverse, inclusive environment where everyone belongs. Our staff networks offer safe spaces for honest conversations and to share ideas, thoughts and concerns so we can increase awareness and appreciation of equality, diversity, and inclusion.
As a member of the team, you will have access to the NHS pension plan, a generous holiday allowance, employee health and wellbeing services and extensive benefits and support. These include onsite nurseries, childcare vouchers, car lease and home electronics schemes, working carers support, carer-friendly policies, and more.
If you value caring, high standards, improvement, and respect, join the MY team to make a difference every day.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Key requirements
- Collection of deceased patient notes from the Mortuary at 08:00 each day, checking for any A&E deaths on the yellow release forms taken to the Mortuary along with the deceased.
- Check the Bereavement inbox for information requested from the Coroner’s Office.
- Record the deceased details on the Daily Deceased Information Sheet, photocopy and hand out to Bereavement and email to the Medical Examiner Office.
- Maintain the Databases that are used within the Bereavement role i.e. Datix Web and File tracker.
- Patient notes need to be organised and placed in Clinical coding box for their collection, including any loose notes sent from the ward.
- Understand and navigate the Trust’s systems to provide the correct information needed to complete Bereavement databases and paperwork, i.e. Cito, PPM +, SystmOne, Symphony, ECaMis, ICE and GMC Register to obtain the Doctor’s name and GMC number.
- Check doctors’ rota for resident doctors’ shift patterns or medical staffing team for contact details in order to locate them.
- Contact the Wards to locate the Resident Doctors, advising or informing them to contact the medical examiners office to complete the Bereavement paperwork for all deceased patients.
- To supply the Free from Infection certificate templates and information on Out of England process to repatriating families.
- To ensure formal notification is sent to deceased patient’s General Practitioner either via SystmOne or a paper copy and posted out.
- Coordinate and maintain bereavement survey, sending out Forget Me Not seeds to bereaved relatives/next of kin.
- Updating and maintaining the bereavement links and contact details on the Internet and the Intranet.
- To undertake photocopying, scanning and other administrative tasks as requested, sensitive documents need encrypting at the time of scanning.
- To maintain an effective Bereavement database ensuring that the data is kept in a secure manner adhering to Caldicott guidelines/GDPR at all times.
- To ensure that concerns raised are directed to the Patient Advice & Liaison team if unable to resolve within the Bereavement service.
- Provide a first line of response to enquiries received by telephone, email or in person ensuring that these are handled confidentially, and in a professional manner.
- Report through the incident reporting mechanisms if callers are abusive in any way.
- Sensitively manage the receipt of information pertaining to clinical incidents and complaints. Ensure that department and Trust policies are followed and that confidentiality is maintained at all times.
- Scan and input on Datix (password protected) all documents received following the property search, update Datix with Hospital Contract Funeral in appropriate field.
Please see the job description and person specification for full details.
Be part of MY team
We are an acute trust caring for over one million people in Wakefield and Kirklees. Our 10,000 staff work in patients’ homes, the community, and our three hospitals in Pontefract, Dewsbury, and Pinderfields (Wakefield). We prioritise our people and values so we can deliver the best possible care to patients. Our team is friendly, passionate, and innovative, always seeking better ways to work.
We support work-life balance and foster a diverse, inclusive environment where everyone belongs. Our staff networks offer safe spaces to share ideas and concerns so we can increase awareness and appreciation of equality, diversity, and inclusion. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and especially encourage members of the LGBTQ+ community, ethnic minority groups, and people with disabilities or neurodivergence to apply, as they are currently underrepresented in the Trust.
If you value caring, high standards, improvement, and respect, join the MY team to make a difference every day.
Application guidance: We understand that more applicants are using AI technology to help with their applications. While these tools can be useful, they cannot fully capture your skills, knowledge, and experience. It’s important that you personalise your application. Relying solely on AI is not recommended, as it may reduce your chances of success. Our screening process is thorough, so if you have used AI, please make sure to disclose this on your application form.
Our benefits
- Access to the NHS pension plan
- Generous holiday allowance of 27 days plus bank holidays, increasing with 5 and 10 years of service
- Exceptional employee health and wellbeing services
- Extensive benefits and support, including:
- Onsite nurseries and childcare salary sacrifice scheme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Home electronics scheme
- Car lease salary sacrifice scheme
- Working carers support and advice, carers network and carers passport
- Flexible working options and family and carer-friendly policies
- Established staff networks, including LGBTQ+ and Race Equality
- Career progression, training and support
Skilled worker sponsorship
You can find out more about skilled worker and health and care visas on our careers site.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Key requirements
- Collection of deceased patient notes from the Mortuary at 08:00 each day, checking for any A&E deaths on the yellow release forms taken to the Mortuary along with the deceased.
- Check the Bereavement inbox for information requested from the Coroner’s Office.
- Record the deceased details on the Daily Deceased Information Sheet, photocopy and hand out to Bereavement and email to the Medical Examiner Office.
- Maintain the Databases that are used within the Bereavement role i.e. Datix Web and File tracker.
- Patient notes need to be organised and placed in Clinical coding box for their collection, including any loose notes sent from the ward.
- Understand and navigate the Trust’s systems to provide the correct information needed to complete Bereavement databases and paperwork, i.e. Cito, PPM +, SystmOne, Symphony, ECaMis, ICE and GMC Register to obtain the Doctor’s name and GMC number.
- Check doctors’ rota for resident doctors’ shift patterns or medical staffing team for contact details in order to locate them.
- Contact the Wards to locate the Resident Doctors, advising or informing them to contact the medical examiners office to complete the Bereavement paperwork for all deceased patients.
- To supply the Free from Infection certificate templates and information on Out of England process to repatriating families.
- To ensure formal notification is sent to deceased patient’s General Practitioner either via SystmOne or a paper copy and posted out.
- Coordinate and maintain bereavement survey, sending out Forget Me Not seeds to bereaved relatives/next of kin.
- Updating and maintaining the bereavement links and contact details on the Internet and the Intranet.
- To undertake photocopying, scanning and other administrative tasks as requested, sensitive documents need encrypting at the time of scanning.
- To maintain an effective Bereavement database ensuring that the data is kept in a secure manner adhering to Caldicott guidelines/GDPR at all times.
- To ensure that concerns raised are directed to the Patient Advice & Liaison team if unable to resolve within the Bereavement service.
- Provide a first line of response to enquiries received by telephone, email or in person ensuring that these are handled confidentially, and in a professional manner.
- Report through the incident reporting mechanisms if callers are abusive in any way.
- Sensitively manage the receipt of information pertaining to clinical incidents and complaints. Ensure that department and Trust policies are followed and that confidentiality is maintained at all times.
- Scan and input on Datix (password protected) all documents received following the property search, update Datix with Hospital Contract Funeral in appropriate field.
Please see the job description and person specification for full details.
Be part of MY team
We are an acute trust caring for over one million people in Wakefield and Kirklees. Our 10,000 staff work in patients’ homes, the community, and our three hospitals in Pontefract, Dewsbury, and Pinderfields (Wakefield). We prioritise our people and values so we can deliver the best possible care to patients. Our team is friendly, passionate, and innovative, always seeking better ways to work.
We support work-life balance and foster a diverse, inclusive environment where everyone belongs. Our staff networks offer safe spaces to share ideas and concerns so we can increase awareness and appreciation of equality, diversity, and inclusion. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and especially encourage members of the LGBTQ+ community, ethnic minority groups, and people with disabilities or neurodivergence to apply, as they are currently underrepresented in the Trust.
If you value caring, high standards, improvement, and respect, join the MY team to make a difference every day.
Application guidance: We understand that more applicants are using AI technology to help with their applications. While these tools can be useful, they cannot fully capture your skills, knowledge, and experience. It’s important that you personalise your application. Relying solely on AI is not recommended, as it may reduce your chances of success. Our screening process is thorough, so if you have used AI, please make sure to disclose this on your application form.
Our benefits
- Access to the NHS pension plan
- Generous holiday allowance of 27 days plus bank holidays, increasing with 5 and 10 years of service
- Exceptional employee health and wellbeing services
- Extensive benefits and support, including:
- Onsite nurseries and childcare salary sacrifice scheme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Home electronics scheme
- Car lease salary sacrifice scheme
- Working carers support and advice, carers network and carers passport
- Flexible working options and family and carer-friendly policies
- Established staff networks, including LGBTQ+ and Race Equality
- Career progression, training and support
Skilled worker sponsorship
You can find out more about skilled worker and health and care visas on our careers site.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Please click 'apply now' to view the full person specification (there is no obligation to submit an application).
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Please click 'apply now' to view the full person specification (there is no obligation to submit an application).
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.
