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Job overview

Merton & Wandsworth Medical Examiner service, based at St George’s,  provides independent scrutiny of the circumstances and causes of in-hospital deaths and deaths in the local community.  We provide vital support to families.  The Medical Examiner service will become statutory on 9th September 2024.

We are looking for a Medical Examiner Officer (MEO) to join our friendly, collaborative team,  delivering a professional and compassionate service. They will help the ME to review the circumstances and causes of death and will work closely, yet independently from other services involved in patient care. The MEO will be central to providing an objective service to bereaved families who wish to raise concerns.

It is a challenging role combining some clinical knowledge and skilled communication. Ideally the applicant will be familiar with coronial, medical examiner and death certification processes as they will be a source of advice for the bereaved, clinicians, coroner, and registration services. Experience of bereavement care would be beneficial as MEOs are required to interact sensitively with the bereaved, handling emotive and challenging situations. They must also demonstrate excellent communication skills with all stakeholders and have outstanding administration skills and attention to detail.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, flexible self-starter to embrace this role, which will be challenging, yet rewarding.

Main duties of the job

To support Medical Examiners (MEs) in their role in scrutinising the circumstances and causes of death. To be a point of contact and source of advice for relatives of deceased patients, healthcare professionals and Coroner and Registration services.

The Medical Examiner Officer (MEO) will act as the operational lead for the Medical Examiner service and will carry out a broad range of duties to support the smooth and effective running of the service. This will include deputising for specific duties of the Medical Examiner.

The post holder will work with the Head of Mortality Services and Lead Medical Examiner to further develop the function across the Trust and boroughs of Merton and Wandsworth.

Key result areas:

• Be able to juggle conflicting demands, prioritise tasks and deal with queries as they arise
• Identify relatives’ concerns and escalate them appropriately to the Medical Examiner
• Full compliance with secure handling of patient identifiable data is essential
• Production of reports for submission to the National Medical Examiner’s office and Trust committees such as the Mortality Monitoring Committee and the Patient Safety and Quality Group
• Contribute to and review departmental policies and procedures to reflect best practice in the delivery of a Medical Examiner system.

Working for our organisation

St George’s is one of the country's largest and busiest acute NHS trusts, serving a diverse population of more than 3.5 million people across south London and beyond.

The main hospital site in Tooting and other healthcare locations provide a modern, dynamic, caring environment for excellent clinical care, education and research.

The trust employs around 9,000 dedicated staff across more than 40 different services and specialties. Every day, more than 2,000 attend mainly for outpatient appointments, elective surgery and in the Emergency Department, made famous as the previous home of '24 hours in A&E'.

We work together to provide outstanding care every time for patients, and the communities we serve. We are committed to offering excellent learning and development opportunities and to supporting rewarding careers.