Medical Examiners

Medical Examiners

By April 2020 all hospital deaths will be scrutinised by the Medical Examiners service. Medical Examiners are senior medical doctors who are contracted for a number of sessions a week to undertake Medical Examiner duties, outside of their usual clinical duties. They are trained in the legal and clinical elements of the death certification process. The Medical Examiners Team consists of; Medical Examiners, Medical Examiners Officers and Bereavement Staff.

The roles of the Medical Examiners Team are outlined below; • agree the proposed cause of death and the accuracy of the

Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD), • discuss the cause of death with the next of kin/informant and establish if they have any concerns with care and/or treatment that the patient received, • act as a medical advice resource for the local Coroner, • inform the selection of cases for further review under local mortality arrangements and contribute to other clinical governance procedures.