Medical Examiner
Medical examiners are senior medical doctors who are contracted for a number of sessions a week to provide independent scrutiny of the causes of death, outside their usual clinical duties.
They are trained in the legal and clinical elements of death certification processes.
The purpose of the medical examiner system is to:
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provide greater safeguards for the public by ensuring independent scrutiny of all non-coronial deaths
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ensure the appropriate direction of death's to the coroner
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provide a better service for the bereaved and an opportunity for them to raise any concerns to a doctor not involved in the care of the deceased
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improve the quality of death certification
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improve the quality of mortality data.
From 9 September 2024, if Medical Practitioners can establish the cause of death, they will be able to complete a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) if they attended the deceased in their lifetime.
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As long as the Medical Practitioner attended the deceased, they can complete the MCCD and there will no longer be a requirement to have seen the patient within the 28 days before death, or to have seen the body after death. This change comes into force on 9 September 2024.
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Please access the links below for further information on the role of the ME and the changes as of 9 September 2024.
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https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-medical-examiner-update-june-2024/
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