Job summary
Medical examiner officers support medical examiners and their role includes:o Managing cases from initial notification through to completiono Obtaining relevant medical recordso Communication with the registrar and bereaved families
Main duties of the job
1. Work with Medical Examiners (ME) to aid them in their responsibility for overseeing the death certification process for all deceased patients in the organisation.
2. To act as an intermediary between the bereaved families and clinicians to establish and resolve any concerns relating to a patient's death.
3. To establish the circumstances of individual patient deaths by performing a preliminary review of medical records to identify clinical and circumstantial information sourcing additional details where required, for scrutiny by the medical examiner.
4. To provide specialised advice to the bereaved and signpost to internal and external agencies and further support when required.
About us
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is situated on the west coast of Lancashire, with services covering the local authority areas of Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre. The Trust is part of the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS) supporting a population of around 1.6 million people.
We have three main hospitals providing acute services to around 330,000 local residents. The organisation also provides specialist tertiary care for cardiac and haematology services, delivers community health services to over 445,000 residents including those in North Lancashire and hosts the National Artificial Eye Service across England. Plus, we provide urgent and emergency care services to an estimated 18 million people who visit the seaside resort each year. We employ over 7000 people from 68 different countries.
We welcome and encourage application from anyone with protected characteristics, as well as supporting reservists and Veterans who are looking for a rewarding and challenging career within the NHS.
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals encourages flexible working in all our roles to support staff in maintaining healthy home-life balance. Working patterns such as: part time working, self-rostering, compressed hours, annualised hours, term time, reverse term time and flexitime working can be explored.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see the attached job description and person specification for further details about the role.
When applying for this role please match your work experience and qualifications to the essential and desirable criteria required for this role and provide details of how they align within the "supporting information" section of the application.
Consideration may be given to anyone working towards their RCP certificate Train to become a medical examiner officer
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see the attached job description and person specification for further details about the role.
When applying for this role please match your work experience and qualifications to the essential and desirable criteria required for this role and provide details of how they align within the "supporting information" section of the application.
Consideration may be given to anyone working towards their RCP certificate Train to become a medical examiner officer
Person Specification
Experience & Knowledge
Essential
- To understand medical terminology that enables informed discussions about causes/circumstances of death with bereaved families, clinicians, coroner, and registration service staff.
- Knowledge of the statutory process around death certification legal frameworks and how the medical examiner system aligns with other related organisations and NHS initiatives.
- Specialist knowledge of various faith groups' funeral wishes/practices to enable respectful compliance with tight and specific timescales and procedures.
- Experience of working in the NHS or similar public service
Desirable
- Previous experience of working as a Medical Examiners Officer
Qualification Requirements
Essential
- Educated to Bachelor's Degree level or equivalent working knowledge in a related field
- RCP Certificate
Desirable
- Postgraduate qualification in associated topic
Skills and Ability
Essential
- Highly evolved empathetic and self-awareness skills to deal with bereaved families who may have barriers to understanding information due to their grief or disability.
- Ability to deliver a day-to-day operational/process management of a customer-facing service where users may have unpredictable and emotionally charged needs.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Computer literate to use multiple IT software for recording personal identifiable data and producing statistical information for the National Medical Examiner's office and Public Health surveillance
- Ability to identify relatives' concerns and escalate them appropriately
- Able to deal proactively with conflict.
- The ability to work in a highly pressurised, unpredictable environment where bereavement care is central to the service delivery
Person Specification
Experience & Knowledge
Essential
- To understand medical terminology that enables informed discussions about causes/circumstances of death with bereaved families, clinicians, coroner, and registration service staff.
- Knowledge of the statutory process around death certification legal frameworks and how the medical examiner system aligns with other related organisations and NHS initiatives.
- Specialist knowledge of various faith groups' funeral wishes/practices to enable respectful compliance with tight and specific timescales and procedures.
- Experience of working in the NHS or similar public service
Desirable
- Previous experience of working as a Medical Examiners Officer
Qualification Requirements
Essential
- Educated to Bachelor's Degree level or equivalent working knowledge in a related field
- RCP Certificate
Desirable
- Postgraduate qualification in associated topic
Skills and Ability
Essential
- Highly evolved empathetic and self-awareness skills to deal with bereaved families who may have barriers to understanding information due to their grief or disability.
- Ability to deliver a day-to-day operational/process management of a customer-facing service where users may have unpredictable and emotionally charged needs.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Computer literate to use multiple IT software for recording personal identifiable data and producing statistical information for the National Medical Examiner's office and Public Health surveillance
- Ability to identify relatives' concerns and escalate them appropriately
- Able to deal proactively with conflict.
- The ability to work in a highly pressurised, unpredictable environment where bereavement care is central to the service delivery
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).
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).
