Medical Examiner (Specialist or Consultant Grade) - Medical Examiner Office - Hampshire Hospita[...]

Main area Medical Examiner Office Grade Specialist or Consultant Grade Contract Permanent: 1 Programmed Activity (4 hours) per week, provided during ME service office hours Monday - Friday 0730-1530 Hours

• Part time
• Flexible working

4 hours per week (An individual ME works on average 4 hours per week, currently this is either 1 x 4 hour shift or 2 x 2 hour shifts, flexibly during office hours but currently being reviewed)

Job ref 251-MD25025

Site Hampshire Hospitals Town Basingstoke/Winchester Salary per annum pro rata Closing 16/03/2025 23:59

Our cultural ambition is to have a culture that places people at the heart of all we do, where we all belong, and where learning, improvement and excellence thrive.

Job overview

“The next of kin are at the heart of everything we do”

We are seeking to appoint a proactive and self-motivated doctor 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.

Main duties of the job

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 deceased
• 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 specialties from both the acute and non-acute setting, strengthening links between the health services, coroners' offices and register offices.

Medical Examiners are senior doctors from a diverse variety of clinical specialties in secondary and primary care. We are looking to recruit someone with experience of caring for and/or reviewing a broad cross-section of patients; and in particular experience of mortality review / governance would be a strong bonus. You will work closely with our team of Medical Examiner Officers, who are vital to the efficient running of the service.

Working for our organisation

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.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Medical Examiner (ME) must be a medical practitioner registered with a licence to practise 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).

Person specification

Training and Qualifications

• Medical Practitioner registered and licensed to practise in the UK by the GMC
• Successfully completed the mandatory e-learning modules before the start of the role

Experience and Knowledge

• Doctor with experience of caring for and/or reviewing a broad cross-section of hospital patients
• Up to date knowledge of medical conditions, treatments and medicines which may or may not have contributed to death, and be able to exercise judgement in where to seek specialist advice in order to determine the appropriate level of scrutiny required
• Knowledge of local and national clinical governance systems and an understanding of how the ME can work collaboratively to improve patient safety by identifying sub-optimal clinical and organisational performance
• Up to date knowledge of causes of death and an understanding of the legal frameworks associated with death certification
• Knowledge of special requirements of various faith groups and respect for equality and diversity
• Be familiar with the role and function of the Coroner and be able to present complex medical information in such a way as to assist the Coroner to decide whether to investigate a death about which they have been notified
• Experience of mortality review and related practice, departmental, divisional or Trust governance processes.

Skills and Ability

• Ability to assimilate information quickly and summarise succinctly
• Strong interpersonal skills demonstrating the ability to communicate in difficult and emotional situations with empathy and professionalism
• Commitment to lifelong learning and undertaking personal development opportunities

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.
• This vacancy may close before the current listed closing date. If you intend to apply you are advised not to delay submitting your completed application.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.