Medical Examiner

"The next of kin are at the heart of everything we do"
We are seeking to appoint proactive and self-motivated individuals to join our team of medical examiners at North & Mid Hampshire Medical Examiner Service.
Since 9 September 2024 when the service became statutory, all acute, non-acute and community deaths that do not require a coroner's referral must be scrutinised by a medical examiner before the death can be registered.
As an ME you will provide independent scrutiny of the causes of death, which includes a proportionate scrutiny of the medical records of the deceased; make enquiries if necessary to confirm or establish the cause of death; and discuss the proposed cause of death with the attending practitioner.
Medical Examiners are senior doctors from a diverse variety of clinical specialties in secondary and primary care. You will work closely with our team of Medical Examiner Officers, who are vital to the efficient running of the service.
The North & Mid Hampshire Medical Examiner Service is an independent team hosted by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Interview Date is 15-Jan-2025, The successful applicant will
+ provide greater safeguards for the public by ensuring independent scrutiny of all non-coronial deaths
+ ensure the appropriate direction of deaths to the coroner
+ provide a better service for the bereaved and an opportunity for them to raise any concerns to a doctor not involved in the care of the decreased
+ improve the quality of death certification
+ support local learning and improvement by identifying matters that require escalation to local clinical governance and other processes
+ improve the quality of mortality data
The ME service interacts with many clinical specialities from both the acute and non-acute setting, strengthening links between the health services, coroners' offices and register offices., The Medical Examiner (ME) must be a medical practitioner registered with a license to practice in the UK by the GMC, with at least five-years of experience. The post-holder must have been registered as a medical practitioner throughout the previous five years as at the date of appointment.
The main responsibilities are to:
+ ensure compliance with the legal and procedural requirements associated with the current processes of certification, investigation (by coroners) and registration of deaths
+ support those doctors who call for medical advice on suspected natural causes of death
+ scrutinise the certified causes of all in-scope deaths
+ maintain comprehensive records of all deaths scrutinised and undertake analysis for clinical governance purposes
+ explain to bereaved relatives cause of death in a transparent, tactful and sympathetic manner
+ support the training of junior doctors in completion of MCCDs
+ engage with relevant governance activities relating to death certification
+ support the Medical Examiner Officers in carrying out their role and with their continuing professional development
+ Attend catch-up meetings for all MEs and MEOs which are currently 6 per year (4 x remote, 1 x face to face on either RHCH or BNHH site, and 1 'Away Day' (in-house training off site face to face)
For further details / informal visits or to arrange a conversation with our Lead ME, contact: Lisa Birkett.
Our commitment to you:
We are committed to equality and diversity in both the provision of our services and how we recruit and manage our staff. Applications are encouraged from everyone with the necessary attributes for the job, irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity.
Happy to Talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible and part time working will be considered.
The paperwork:
+ HHFT is committed to putting the safety and care of our patients first - as well as helping us to protect you and your colleagues. Therefore, we would recommend that you are vaccinated against COVID-19 and that you understand that we are treating COVID-19 positive patients within our services.

+ Shortlisted candidates will be contacted at least 5 working days before the scheduled interview date. Applications will be submitted directly into our preferred third party recruitment system (Trac). All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs via email - please ensure to check your junk/spam folders.
+ All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering their first six months in post.
+ In compliance with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016, all applicants must be able to communicate fluently in English to an appropriate standard which will be assessed as part of the selection process.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the major provider of hospital services to the population of North and mid Hampshire and surrounding areas. The hospitals in Basingstoke and Winchester provide a comprehensive range of acute services as well as being a tertiary referral centre for colorectal, liver, peritoneal carcinomatosis, haemophilia and pseudomyxoma surgery.