Contact Medical Examiner Service

Office of Lead Medical Examiner Service for Wales

Lead Medical Examiner for Wales

Dr Jason Shannon

Lead Medical Examiner Officer

Daisy Shale

National Programme Director

Andrew Evans

Tel: 07870 404 654

Email: medical.examiner@wales.nhs.uk

Address

Medical Examiner Service Office
NWSSP
4/5 Charnwood Court
Heol Billingsley
Parc Nantgarw
Cardiff.
CF15 7QZ

FAQs

When will this Service be available?

As this is a new Service, it will take a period of time to develop and set up. Suitably trained staff need to be recruited and Medical Examiner Offices set up. As we want these to be able to offer a consistent and high quality service it is not possible to set them all up at once and so we have developed a timetable for the creation of the Service which will see individual Offices established, firstly to review deaths that occur in major hospitals, and then to review all deaths that occur in that geographical area.

This means that there will be a build-up of the Service rather than a “big bang” introduction, with it operating fully from 1 April 2021.

How will it work?

The Medical Examiner Service will have offices in major District Hospital sites across Wales and be staffed during core hours by Medical Examiner Officers. Medical Examiner Officers will gather relevant information on a person’s death and coordinate scrutiny by a Medical Examiner.

What will it mean for me?

The introduction of the Medical Examiner Service means that the designated Next of Kin of the person who has died will have the opportunity to speak to someone who wasn’t involved in the care of their loved one but who is able to listen to any concerns there may be about the care provided and to explain in more detail the cause of death and the circumstances that led up to the death. Where the Medical Examiner believes that a more thorough and in depth investigation into a death is needed they will be able to ensure that this happens and that the results of that investigation are fed back to the Next of Kin.

Why is a Medical Examiner Service being created?

The Medical Examiner Service is being created because it is recognised that an independent scrutiny of a death, undertaken by a Medical Examiner who is a qualified and trained doctor, but who has not been involved in the care of the person who has died and does not ordinarily work in the same area in the organisation who provided their care, allows the cause of death to be more accurately identified, and the circumstances of that person’s death to be more objectively assessed.

Get in Touch

If you have a query for our Medical Examiner Service. Please contact us below: