NHS Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
What happens with the Medical Cause of Death Certificate (MCCD) when someone dies? Due to the current pandemic, there has been a change to the way in which deaths are now registered. When someone dies at Kingston Hospital, you currently do not need to collect the MCCD from the Bereavement Office or take it to the Register Office, as per the booklet. Once the MCCD has been completed and you have received a call from the Medical Examiner, the Bereavement Officer will call and advise you that they will now be electronically sending the MCCD to the Register Office. Once received, the Register Office will call you to organise a telephone appointment to register the death by phone. Once funeral directors have been appointed, please advise the Register Office and the Bereavement Officer. The registrars will send the green form to the Funeral Directors and the Bereavement Officer will complete the release form on your behalf. Please call the Bereavement Office as soon as you feel able to on 020 8934 3355 and we will take your details and advise further.
The Medical Examiner system at Kingston Hospital Foundation Trust Who are our Medical Examiners and Medical Examiner Officer?
Since 2019, some NHS consultants have chosen to receive specialist training and to spend some of their time working as Medical Examiners. Alongside a Medical Examiner Officer, their job is to give independent advice about what caused somebody’s death (except for deaths which have to be reviewed by the coroner). Medical Examiners and Medical Examiner Officers look at medical records and discuss the cause of death with the medical team on the ward who looked after the patient. Medical Examiners and Medical Examiner Officers offer families and carers of the person who has died an opportunity to raise questions or concerns about the causes of death, or about the care the person received in hospital before their death. This will usually be through a telephone call. They can explain what medical terms mean and make it easier to understand. You can be confident Medical Examiners will provide an independent view as they will only deal with those deaths of people that they themselves did not care for during their stay in hospital.
Coroners
Over the next few months some cases will be reviewed by the Medical Examiner - a senior doctor who was not involved in the patient’s care. This is a new system being introduced nationwide to improve the quality of death certification. They will review the notes and discuss the case with the ward doctor before the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) is written. They may also telephone you during this process. One of our team will call you once the MCCD is ready, they will talk to you about the cause of