The Mersey & West Lancashire (MWL) Medical Examiner Service, based at Whiston Hospital, are very excited to be extending our service and we are looking for an excellent Medical Examiner Officer to play a key role in our ongoing development. The Medical Examiner service is fundamental to supporting the bereaved, ensuring consistency and accuracy in death certification and promoting continuous learning. If you feel strongly about providing outstanding services to our community then we would like to hear from you. Our ME service was established in 2021 to provide independent scrutiny of the circumstances and causes of in-hospital and Willowbrook Hospice deaths to support families with empathy and understanding through this process. We have now extended our service to include deaths that have occurred in the community. To make this a success we are looking to recruit an additional Medical Examiner Officers (MEO) to join our existing team. Interview Date - Week commencing 12th May 2025,

• Work with Medical Examiners and the Lead Medical Examiner's Officer to aid them in their responsibility for overseeing the death certification process for all deceased patients in the locality.
• 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, highlighting to the Medical Examiner any inconsistencies or areas of concern noted.
• To act as an intermediary between the bereaved and clinicians to establish and resolve any concerns relating to a patient's death.
• To liaise with the bereavement team as required in relation to keeping the bereaved informed and arrangements to issue the death certificate to them.
• To be able to work on his/her own initiative, referring to the Lead Medical Examiner Officer when necessary., Work with Medical Examiners and the Lead Medical Examiner's Officer to aid them in their responsibility for overseeing the death certification process for all deceased patients in the locality.
• 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, highlighting to the Medical Examiner any inconsistencies or areas of concern noted.
• To act as an intermediary between the bereaved and clinicians to establish and resolve any concerns relating to a patient's death.
• To liaise with the bereavement team as required in relation to keeping the bereaved informed and arrangements to issue the death certificate to them.
• To be able to work on his/her own initiative, referring to the Lead Medical Examiner Officer when necessary.
CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
• Maintain an awareness of the diverse needs of users of the medical examiner system to ensure equality to any particular group defined by sex, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or disability.
• To assist in highlighting cases for assessment by the Structured Judgement Review team (SJR), Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP), Clinical Governance teams and the Learning Disability Review Teams (LeDeR).
• Exercise judgment regarding concerns raised by relatives, which may be complex, to decide which of the escalation options available are most appropriate i.e. Coroner Referral, SJR, PALS.
• 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.
• To have an understanding of 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.
• Be able to juggle conflicting demands, prioritise tasks and deal with queries as they arise.
• Specialist knowledge of various faith groups' funeral wishes/practices to enable respectful compliance with tight and specific timescales and procedures.
• The ability to work in a highly pressurised, unpredictable environment where bereavement care is central to the service.
• Work closely with the Medical Examiner in relation to delegated duties, under the supervision of the Lead Medical Examiner's Officer.
• Provide support, information and explanations around the statutory requirements for Coroner's referrals possible outcomes i.e. post-mortems, inquests, and the procedures for the release of the deceased.
• To be aware of the Safeguarding Adult and Child frameworks and processes and liaise as required.
ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES
• To utilise the Trust's data systems and those of community partners to access all relevant records including EPR, PACS, ICE, EDMS, EMIS, SystemOne and Datix.
• To utilise and maintain the Medical Examiner Service database and support the implementation of the National Medical Examiner database.
• Keep accurate and contemporaneous records.
• In liaison with the Bereavement Team to provide information to the family and visitors regarding the arrangements to be made following the death.
• To observe arrangements for storing records of medical examiner scrutiny comply with relevant data protection legislation and the policies of the trust where the medical examiner office is based.
COMMUNICATION / KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS INTERNAL
• Hospital doctors
• Medical Examiners
• Service managers.
• Nurses
• Safeguarding Team
• Clinical Governance Leads
• Mortuary staff
EXTERNAL
• HM Coroner and officers
• Spiritual/Faith community leads
• Registrars of births and deaths
• GPs and practice staff
• Bereaved relatives, carers and executors/solicitors.
• Funeral Directors
• National Medical Examiner
• Regional leads for ME system
TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSIBILITIES
• To provide training in all aspects of the role as necessary to less experienced members of staff.
• Attend appropriate training and education sessions at the request of the manager.
RESEARCH & AUDIT
• All Trust employees have a responsibility to support research and audit as required.
• To contribute to and review departmental policies and procedures to reflect best practice in the delivery of an independent medical examiner system.
Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England. Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience. The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people's race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups. As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form. If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [email protected] We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form. The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process. The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process. Certificate of Sponsorship 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). Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please click here to check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship. Disclosure and Barring Service Check If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 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. Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies. Flexible Working We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that: · All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment. · There is no limit on the number of requests they can make. · Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason. At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage. Working for Team MWL Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services. The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own. The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software. Additional Information Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here. An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents. Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites. We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care. Our services: Acute Care Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites. Primary Care Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital. Community Services Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre. Specialist Regional Services We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales. Achievements: + Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018 + Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal) + National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme