University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
TheEast Dorset Medical Examiner Service,hosted by UHD, is part of a vital national initiative introduced by NHS England. Our service provides independent scrutiny of all deaths not investigated by the Coroner, ensuring transparency, accuracy, and compassion in examining the circumstances and causes of death, both in-hospital and in the local community.
We are looking for a Medical Examiner Officer to join our friendly, collaborative team, delivering a professional and compassionate service. They will help the Medical Examiner to review the circumstances and causes of the death and will work closely, yet independently from other services involved in patient care.
It is a challenging role combining some medical terminology/ clinical knowledge and skilled communication. Ideally the applicant will be familiar with coroner, medical examiner and death certification processes.
Experience of bereavement care would be beneficial as Medical Examiner Officers are required to interact sensitively with the bereaved, handling emotive and challenging situations. The post holder must exhibit exceptional attention to detail, strong administrative capabilities, and effective communication skills when interacting with all stakeholders.
This role offers an opportunity to make a meaningful difference by providing vital support to bereaved families and helping to maintain the integrity of the death certification process.
Base Location: Bournemouth and Poole Hospital
Interview Date: TBC
Main duties of the job
* To support Medical Examiners in their role in scrutinising the circumstances and causes of death.
* To be a point of contact and source of advice for relatives of deceased patients, healthcare professionals, coroner and registration services.
* To act as an intermediary between the bereaved and clinicians to establish and resolve any concerns relating to a patient's death.
* To work with Medical Examiners to aid them in their responsibility for overseeing the death certification process for all deceased patients.
* 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.
* To assist in highlighting cases for referral using the governance reporting systems in the Acute Trust, as well as referral using the clinical governance processes for deaths in the community (GP practices), community hospitals, hospices and private health care in East Dorset.
* To highlight patients for referral to the coroner for further investigation.
* To ensure the application and observation of all health and safety, security and confidentiality policies are adhered to by all medical examiner office services staff.
About us
Our values define who we are as #TeamUHD. They underpin everything we do now and in the future. They define how we treat our patients, visitors, and each other, our valued teammates and colleagues.
UHD are investing in services across the Trust, with many being transformed and developed following merger and the New Hospital Programme.
This means that some services may move site this year or next, either temporarily or long term. Recruiting Managers interviewing for this role will be happy to answer any specific questions that you have about this at interview.
Job responsibilities
* To expand our team of Medical Examiner Officers (MEO) to support the Medical Examiners (ME) in their role in scrutinising the circumstances and cause of death.
* To be a point of contact and source of advice for relatives of deceased patients, healthcare professionals, coroner and registration services.
* The Medical Examiner Officer will be part of an existing team acting as experts in death certification and scrutiny of non-coronial referrals.
* There is significant emotional effort associated with dealing with bereaved families.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* oEducated to Bachelor's degree level, or evidence of study/equivalent practical experience at an advanced level.
* oCommenced the Medical Examiner e-learning core training modules prior.
* oCompleted Medical Examiner e-learning core training modules prior to starting in the post.
* oNursing and/or other clinical experience.
Knowledge and Experience
* oFull understanding of the Medical Examiner system operational remit when incorporated within Bereavement services or as a stand-alone office.
* oExperience of having sensitive communication with potentially distressed patients and families.
* oExperience of working with people in sensitive and emotional situations.
* oExperience of working in a healthcare setting with multi-disciplinary teams across organisational boundaries.
* oTo have qualifications/skills in day to day operational/process management of a customer facing service where users may have unpredictable and emotionally charged needs.
* oGeneral knowledge of clinical/medical terminology that enables informed discussions about causes/circumstances of death with bereaved families, clinicians, Coroner and registration services staff.
* oKnowledge of public sector/NHS work structures.
* oProven experience of meeting deadlines
* oExperience of developing and implementing policy to drive through high quality standards with system users.
* oExtensive use of database packages.
* oExperience of using hospital patient information systems.
* oExperience of project management.
* oExperience of delivering presentations/training.
* oKnowledge of special requirements of various faith groups and respect for equality and diversity of issues around formalities following a death to enable respectful compliance with tight and specific timescales and procedures.
* oKnowledge of the Coroner and Justice Act 2009 with reference to the medical examiner system.
* oKnowledge of hospital patient information systems Symphony, eCamis, ePR, PACS.
* oExcellent written, verbal and interpersonal skills, demonstrating the ability to communicate in difficult and emotional situations with empathy and professionalism with all stakeholders.
* oExcellent organisational skills, including high level of accuracy
* oAbility to set up robust processes and IT systems to support case work and reporting function
* oExcellent attention to detail
* oAbility to work autonomously
* oExtensive use of database packages and knowledge and experience of using Microsoft Office i.e. Excel, Word, PowerPoint
* oNegotiating and influencing skills
* oHighly evolved empathic and self-awareness skills to deal with bereaved families who may have barriers to understanding information due to their grief or disability.
Other requirements specific to the role
* oThe ability to work in a highly pressurised, unpredictable environment where bereavement care is central to the service delivery.
Personal Attributes
* oProactive and self-motivated
* oApproachable and supportive to all levels of staff and bereaved families in a non-judgemental and discreet manner.
* oProfessional appearance, manner and awareness of impact of own behaviour on others.
* oAbility to maintain a calm manner in a range of challenging and emotive circumstances.
* oUse of a computer for prolonged periods of time
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.
University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
Deputy Head of Bereavement &EastDorset ME Services
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