Working for the Medical Examiner Service for Wales

Becoming a Medical Examiner

You can apply to become a Medical Examiner if you:

Have five years’ experience as a fully registered medical practitioner
Are currently practicing or have recently retired
Hold a licence to practice with the General Medical Council

In addition, you’ll need to demonstrate:

Up to date knowledge of medical conditions and causes of death
Knowledge of recent legislation and processes
Knowledge of local and national clinical governance systems
Strong communication skills that enable service delivery in a compassionate, professional and discreet manner
An ability to work in a Multi-Disciplinary Team

Appointment to the role of Medical Examiner is contingent on the completion of the mandatory components of an E Learning Programme and a Face to Face Training session run under the auspices of the Royal College of Pathologists. Further information on the role and training can be found here

Application for the role of Medical Examiner can be made on completion of the E Learning Programme component only, with any appointment then made contingent on completion of the Face to Face Training Session within 3 months of appointment.

The E Learning Module can be accessed here.

Further online modules are available as part of an ongoing CPD Programme.

The Medical Examiner Service will provide a full scrutiny of death service during the week from Monday to Friday and will operate a Medical Examiner Telephone Advice Service only on weekends and Bank Holidays between 9 am and 6 pm. This is to allow the early release of bodies where appropriate, for example to adhere to requirements of a particular faith and to act as a contact point for professional advice.

In applying for a role you will be committing to work a given number of sessions per year, with a weekly Job Plan agreed, and these will be confirmed during the appointment process. Medical Examiner remuneration will be in line with Consultant pay scales, but appointments will not be made according to the Consultant Contract Terms and Conditions.

Expression of Interest Form (Doc, 1.08MB)

For any expression of interest, complete expression of interest form and submit to: medicalexaminerservice@wales.nhs.uk

Becoming a Medical Examiner Officer

You can apply to become a Medical Examiner Officer if:

You are educated to degree level or have equivalent practical experience
You have qualifications/skills in day-to-day operational/process management of a customer-facing service where users may have unpredictable and emotionally charged needs.
You have 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.
You have excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
You have an understanding of medical terminology that enables informed discussions about causes/circumstances of death with bereaved families, clinicians, coroner and registration service staff.
You have knowledge of the statutory process around death certification legal frameworks and how the medical examiner system aligns with other related organisations and NHS initiatives.
You have the ability to work in a highly pressurised, unpredictable environment where bereavement care is central to the service delivery.
You have knowledge of various faith groups’ funeral wishes/practices to enable respectful compliance with tight and specific timescales and procedures.
You are computer literate to use multiple IT software for recording personal identifiable data and producing statistical information for the National Medical Examiner’s office and Public Health surveillance.

The Medical Examiner Officer Job Description can be accessed here

Appointment to the role of Medical Examiner Officer is contingent on the completion of an E Learning Programme and attendance of a face to face training day run under the auspices of the Royal College of Pathologists.

Application for the role of Medical Examiner Officer can be made prior to completion of the face to face training component but any appointment then made is contingent on completion of the face to face training within a reasonable time period (expected to be 3 months). Additional training once in post will be given to allow for the completion of the Medical Examiner Officer Training Portfolio. Further information on Medical Examiner officers and training can be found here

The E Learning Module can be accessed here.

In applying for a role you will be committing to work a given number of hours per year and these will be confirmed during the appointment process. Medical Examiner Officer remuneration and terms and conditions will be at Agenda for Change Band 5.

If you would like to discuss the role or application process, please contact:

Daisy Shale – Lead Medical Examiner Officer for Wales

Email: daisy.shale@wales.nhs.uk

Telephone: 07929188518

FAQs

Why has a Medical Examiner Service been created?

The Medical Examiner Service has been created because it has been recognised that an independent scrutiny of a death, undertaken by a Medical Examiner, who is a qualified and trained doctor but who is independent of any care provided and the organisation who provided it, allows the cause of death to be more accurately identified, and the circumstances surrounding the death to be more objectively assessed in order to identify any concerns about the treatment or care provided that may require further investigation.

What does this mean for the Bereaved?

The introduction of the Medical Examiner Service means that the bereaved 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 it.

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 bereaved. This has not always been the case before and has sometimes led to people believing that either their concerns have not been listened to at all, or that they have been listened to but have been ignored or covered up in some way.

How does it work?

The Medical Examiner Service has four Regional Hub Offices as follows:

North Wales (covering the Betsi Cadwaladr health board area)
Mid and West Wales (covering the Hywel Dda and Swansea Bay health board areas)
South Wales Central (covering Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Powys health board areas)
South East Wales (covering Cardiff & Vale and Aneurin Bevan health board areas)

Each Region has a team of Medical Examiner Officers who gather all the relevant information on a person’s death from reviewing the clinical notes, from discussions with a member of the clinical team that provided the last episode of care for the deceased, and from discussions with the bereaved. This information is then reviewed by a Medical Examiner using a structured scrutiny process, ensuring that all deaths receive the same scrutiny wherever they occur and whoever undertakes the process.

From this scrutiny process the Medical Examiner is able to:

Advise the Qualified Attending Practitioner on the most appropriate cause of death to record on the Medical Certificate of the Cause of Death (the Qualified Attending Practitioner is the person legally required to sign the certificate), and
Identify any concerns that may need further investigation, either by a coroner or by the organisation that provided care to the deceased.
Answer questions that the next of kin may have about either the cause of death or the care surrounding it.

How long does the process take?

Based on the scrutiny process the Medical Examiner will agree a cause of death with the doctor who has been involved in the care of the person who has died (the Qualified Attending Practitioner) to allow the death to be registered with the Registry Office.

The Medical Examiner’s scrutiny process commences when we receive the medical records, a proposed cause of death from the clinical team, and the contact details for the family. The scrutiny process will take between 24 and 72 hours and the next of kin will be contacted during this time.

Once the completed MCCD has been received from the attending practitioner, the ME will check it has been completed in line with the current regulations and countersign the MCCD, we will then send this to the register office - the register office will then contact the family to arrange an appointment to register the death over the following 5 days

In a small minority of cases it may not be possible to meet this timeframe (if it has been identified that further investigation by the coroner is required and that this will require access to the body for example), but every effort will be made to ensure that any delay is kept as short as possible and that the requirements of the faith and the bereaved are met.

How is the Service accessed?

In general terms there is no need to contact the Medical Examiner Service directly as a Medical Examiner Officer will contact the relevant individuals, such as the Qualified Attending Practitioner and the Next of Kin recorded in the records of the person who has died. However if you would like to speak to the team please contact them using the details at the end of the page.

Any concerns raised by the bereaved will be considered by the Medical Examiner undertaking the review and any findings or outcomes will be discussed with the bereaved by the Medical Examiner or Medical Examiner Officer when the scrutiny is complete. If the Medical Examiner feels that there were issues with care or events revealed through scrutiny of the clinical notes or from discussion with the Qualified Attending Practitioner (a doctor, on behalf of the clinical team that treated the patient before they died) this will be fed back to the Next of Kin and the relevant care organisation for further action.

The Medical Examiner Service does not undertake further investigation of cases where concerns have been identified, this is the responsibility of the care organisation concerned.

Get in Touch

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