Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services. Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital. Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions. Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients. In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research. We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit. Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’. The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients. We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS. Job overview To support Medical Examiners 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, HM Coroner and the registration services. Main duties of the job The Medical Examiner function is currently in the non-statutory phase of implementation. The service currently scrutinises the deaths of all adult and paediatric patients at the Trust and is expanding further to scrutinise all non-acute deaths occurring in the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. This will result in a significant increase in casework for the Medical Examiner Office, hence the move to recruit additional Medical Examiner Officer capacity. The service is expected to become statutory in April 2024, when all non-coronial deaths will have to be scrutinised by a Medical Examiner before death registration can take place. This is an exciting time to join the Medical Examiner team at Guy’s and St Thomas’ as the exact form of the service is still being shaped and the successful candidate would be able play an important role in contributing to this. You will be based primarily at the Medical Examiner Office located at St Thomas’ Hospital, working alongside the Duty ME for that day, the Lead MEO and the existing team of Bereavement Administrators. There may be a requirement for occasional cross-site working with travel between the Guy’s and St Thomas’ sites (and any satellite inpatient units where the occasional need arises). As a part-time role, the usual start time will be 08:00 hours (Monday to Tuesday) but we can consider slight changes to working hours/days where required. Working for our organisation You will work as a key member of a small but highly specialised and dedicated team. The atmosphere is friendly and supportive. This is an excellent opportunity to have daily contact with a wide range of medical specialties and further your clinical knowledge. The work we do is interesting, varied and gives a lot of job satisfaction. Every day, you will have the opportunity to help improve the care we provide and to directly support the relatives of deceased patients. Detailed job description and main responsibilities Please see attached job description and person specification for full information. To act as an intermediary between the bereaved and clinicians to establish and resolve any concerns relating to a patient’s death. Work with Medical Examiners to aid them in their responsibility for overseeing the death certification process for all deceased patients in the organisation. To establish the circumstances of individual inpatient deaths by performing a preliminary review of medical records to identify relevant clinical and circumstantial information, sourcing additional details where required, for scrutiny by the Medical Examiner. To assist in highlighting cases for assessment by the Structured Judgement Review team (SJR), Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP), Clinical Governance teams and the Learning Disability Review Teams (LeDeR). To perform a preliminary review of all non-acute deaths referred to the Medical Examiner Office. Identifying relevant clinical and circumstantial information, liaising with primary care colleagues and general practitioners to source additional information where required, to enable scrutiny by the Medical Examiner. To discuss cases with patients’ next of kin/representatives, explaining causes of death and medical terminology to them, where appropriate commensurate with your level of clinical knowledge. To refer patients to H.M Coroner for further investigation on approval by the Medical Examiner. Maintain an awareness of the diverse needs of users of the medical examiner system to ensure equality to any particular group defined by sex, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or disability. Person specification Professional/Statutory Registration Desirable criteria Registration with a relevant regulatory body e.g. NMC, HCPC. Qualifications and Education Essential criteria Educated to Bachelor’s degree level or equivalent practical experience at an advanced level working in a related field. The ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, including the recently bereaved. A commitment to life-long learning and undertaking personal development opportunities. Completed e-learning MEO core training modules prior to starting in the post. Desirable criteria Degree in a relevant discipline e.g. Nursing, Paramedic Science. Skills, Knowledge and Ability Essential criteria General knowledge of clinical/medical terminology. Strong interpersonal skills demonstrating the ability to communicate in difficult and emotional situations with empathy and professionalism with all stakeholders Ability to work as part of a team and organise fluctuating workload around competing priorities. IT competent and an ability to quickly become competent in the use of new and potentially unfamiliar IT software systems. Competent in handling sensitive personal identifiable data. Approachable and supportive to all levels of staff and bereaved families in a non-judgemental and discreet manner. Professional appearance, manner and awareness of impact of own behaviour on others. Ability to maintain a calm manner in a range of challenging and emotive circumstances. Desirable criteria Knowledge of the special requirements of various faith groups and respect for equality and diversity of issues around formalities following a death Knowledge of the Coroners & Justice Act 2009 and Notifications of Death Regulations 2019 in respect of the Medical Examiner system. Full understanding of the Medical Examiner system operational remit when incorporated within Bereavement Services or as a stand-alone office Previous Experience Essential criteria Experience of working with people in sensitive and emotional situations Desirable criteria Previous experience as a Medical Examiner Officer. Experience of working in a healthcare setting with multi-disciplinary teams across organisational boundaries. Guy’s and St Thomas’ celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study’s at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership. Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy. As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends. Flexible working We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual’s personal circumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process. Your e-mail address is important to us - We communicate to all job applicants via the e-mail address which has been provided on the application form. Please ensure that you check your e-mail on a regular basis. Please apply for this post by clicking "Apply Online Now." Further details / informal visits contact Name Mr George Hakes Job title Lead Medical Examiner Officer Email address [email protected] Telephone number 0207 188 9450 Additional information I can be contacted by phone Monday - Friday (08:00 - 16:00).