Job responsibilities
Family liaison:
To manage and provide expertise, knowledge and
co-coordinate a sensitive and sympathetic service for bereaved families/next of
kin and to ensure the correct practices are followed, working closely with the
Medical Examiner Service.
To maintain and protect patient and family confidentiality
as per Trust policy.
Dealing with bereaved families including support, and
signposting to counselling services as required. Receive/deal with complex,
highly emotional situations. This includes distressing and demanding situations
where family members may be deeply distressed, hysterical, confrontational or
even aggressive. Patients / members of the public / bereaved are to be dealt
with in a calm and supportive manner.
Act as a focal point for collection of medical
certificates of cause of death (MCCD) by relatives.
Key link person between wards, families of the deceased
and mortuary; liaison role.
Responsible for the day to day running of the bereavement
service and be able to confidently resolve any issues arising in order to
prevent any delays for families. Listening to concerns raised by families and
arranging meetings with medical staff where appropriate, working in parallel
with the Medical Examiner Service.
Ensure that all possessions of the deceased are ready for
collection at the time of relatives appointment liaising with the wards and
families. Arrange if requested by the family the disposal of any unwanted
property with the ward. Inform relatives of process for collection of property.
Co-ordinate an appointment system for bereaved relatives
to return to the hospital in order to collect all appropriate paperwork and
belongings relating to the deceased.
Administration:
Ensure accurate and full completion of all paperwork
relating to the deceased.
Complete all electronic documentation.
Arrange and attend a meeting with patients relatives,
friends or neighbours to discuss patients documents.
Mortuary department:
Assist in maintaining adequate capacity in the mortuary by
ensuring all paperwork is completed promptly to allow timely release of the
deceased. Key role in managing process flow to support deceased documentation
and release required to ensure flow of the deceased through the system.
Update mortuary when deceased referred to coroner and when
families inform us about their choice of funeral director and whether burial or
cremation for mortuary register.
Liaise with mortuary and pathology staff, making
arrangements when a request is made to view the deceased patient.
As needed accompany a bereaved family when visiting their
loved one in the mortuary.
Trust relationships:
Support for new staff including medical staff in regards
to familiarity with bereavement management process.
Training and education for completion of electronic and
paper documentation.
Liaising with clinical staff in relation to cremation
forms and all necessary paperwork where a post mortem is required.
To liaise with the Doctors and Medical Examiner checking
cremation forms
Liaise with the Finance Department to ensure that any
money/property of the deceased patient is dealt with efficiently and
sensitively.
Attend A&E /ward when family are already with the
deceased and wanting immediate support/advice.
Attend wards to support a patient who has had a recent
bereavement
Act as liaison for any relatives that wish to speak to the
trust chaplaincy team
To act as a point of contact and advisor to wards /
departments on the procedure for those patients dying in hospital without
relatives. Responsible for banding
patients money / valuables with the hospital cashiers, where applicable.
Liaise with the Pals Team when enquiries are made; and
support information for RCAs and process reviews
Work closely with the Medical Examiner Service, providing
administrative support as required
Coroner relationship:
Act as the link between the Coroner service and Trust
medical staff making referrals.
Ensure all referrals to coroner are completed on the New
Coroner Portal, ensuring all medical staff and new staff are aware and trained
on the use of portal and how to login.
Develop and maintain good working relationships with the
Coroner & his officers to ensure appropriate information flow between the
two organisations.
Registrar relationship:
Liaise with the Registrar in order to book appointments
for relatives to register death.
Maintain a good working relationship to ensure continuity
of updated information and changes in regulations to the law are adhered to.
Following the introduction of the Covid law take
responsibility to scan all MCCDs and email to registrar, followed by delivery
of original documents to registry office.
Funeral Director relationship:
To liaise and have a knowledge of local funeral directors
in order to inform families of procedure around funeral organisation.
Other external agencies:
Liaise with appropriate university / ward / mortuary when
relatives/other request that a body be donated to medical science.
Inform all necessary individuals of the patients death,
where appropriate and relevant to do so e.g. GP/community staff, other medical
teams previously involved with the patients care.
Have an understanding of local availability of Counselling
services and act as liaison when such services are requested.
Attend and contribute to the multi-agency meeting on
behalf of the Trust to continuously improve the end of life journey.
Contract and hospital funerals:
Ascertain when a contract funeral is required and make
necessary arrangements in relation to trust policy.
Organise tracing of relatives / significant other, via
case notes, GP, local press, ancestry tracing / estate research when dealing
with a deceased with no known next of kin.
Responsible for all legal paperwork / administration with
regards to arranging and executing a contract funeral. Meet with families to
obtain the correct documents/complete necessary checks. Approval of Funeral
Directors invoices before passing for payment.
Generate and maintain systems for storing easily
accessible information regarding individual contract funerals to ensure that
information can be retrieved as and when required.
Accreditation:
Understand & be aware of the Human Tissue Authority
(HTA) codes of practice for Consent, Post Mortem & disposal of tissue.
Assist clinical staff to obtain consent for hospital post
mortem using appropriate documentation, to meet HTA requirements.
Inform families/relatives of the potential need to take
tissue samples/organs as part of the post mortem & their rights, under the
HTA licence, on how the tissue/organ can be processed following the conclusion
of the post mortem findings.
As part of the End of Life Team work with CQC during
assessment periods.
Training and education:
Responsible for ensuring all information relating to the
bereavement service is up to date on the Trust intranet and information
booklets.
Update Bereavement booklet as required and arrange print
runs with printing company. Distribute booklet to wards to give to relatives.
Promote the Bereavement service within the organisation
and to external bodies.
Attend Trust wide and external events to present the
service.
Support management with the recruitment and selection
process for new staff within the Bereavement and mortuary team and be proactive
in developing the service.
Attend training on how to obtain consent following HTA
standards.
Deliver training of new Bereavement staff.
Deliver bereavement support training to mortuary staff.
To participate in education and support programmes in
relation to bereavement care.
Implement changes required with organisations due to
changes in practice and law. Update mortuary staff, Doctors and Ward staff of
these changes.
To attend all mandatory training as required by
Trust policy.
