The Medical Examiner Officer (MEO) Role

The Medical Examiner Officer (MEO) plays a key role in supporting Medical Examiners to provide independent scrutiny of all non-coronial deaths within the Trust and community.

The postholder ensures deaths are reviewed in a timely, transparent, and consistent manner, enabling accurate completion of Medical Certificates of Cause of Death (MCCD), timely reviews of Coroner referrals, improving mortality data quality, and strengthening learning from deaths.

The MEO acts as a liaison between clinical teams, bereaved families, the Coroner’s Office, and Registration Services, and funeral directors, ensuring the service operates with compassion, professionalism, and regulatory compliance. The role supports early identification of patient safety concerns, contributes to governance and audit processes, and promotes improvements in end-of-life care.

The postholder ensures the service operates in a culturally sensitive and inclusive manner, recognising and supporting faith-based and time-sensitive burial requirements.

Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as ‘Priority’ and 'At Risk' status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.

Key Responsibilities

• Supports independent scrutiny of all non-coronial deaths across the Trust by managing a high-volume caseload and ensuring timely, consistent review.
• Produces clear case summaries for Medical Examiner review, highlighting key clinical details, decision points, and potential concerns to support accurate certification.
• Acts as a main contact for bereaved families, providing sensitive explanations of the Medical Examiner process, answering questions, and enabling concerns to be raised while ensuring understanding of the cause of death and next steps.
• Works closely with clinical teams, patient safety, bereavement services, the Coroner’s Office, Registration Services, and funeral directors to coordinate processes and maintain a seamless service.
• Ensures all Medical Certificates of Cause of Death (MCCD) meet statutory requirements and national guidance, identifying and escalating cases needing Coroner referral.
• Supports governance by identifying patient safety concerns, contributing to audits, and participating in quality improvement and learning from deaths.
• Maintains accurate, secure digital records, including case tracking and performance data, supporting transparency and accountability.
• Promotes efficient case progression to minimise delays, including prioritising time-sensitive or faith-based cases.
• Represents the service professionally in meetings and provides updates on activity.