Medical Examiner

Medical examiners

Medical examiners are senior medical doctors who are contracted to provide independent scrutiny of the causes of deaths not investigated by coroners, outside their usual clinical duties. They are trained in the legal and clinical elements of death certification processes. They have statutory responsibilities which are set out in regulations. Medical examiners:

  • provide greater safeguards for the public by ensuring independent scrutiny of all non-coronial deaths
  • ensure the appropriate direction of deaths to the coroner
  • provide bereaved people with an opportunity to ask questions and raise any concerns to someone not involved in the care of the deceased
  • improve the quality of death certification
  • improve the quality of mortality data

 

 

What medical examiners do

Medical examiners seek to answer 3 questions:

  1. What caused the death of the deceased?
  2. Does the coroner need to be notified of the death?
  3. Was the care before death appropriate?

Medical examiners answer these by providing independent scrutiny, with 3 elements:

  1. a proportionate review of relevant medical records
  2. interaction with the doctor completing the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD)
  3. interaction with a bereaved person, providing an opportunity to ask questions and to raise concerns

Medical examiners’ conclusions can inform learning to improve care for future patients, and in a minority of cases are referred to established clinical governance processes for further review.

The national medical examiner

In March 2019, Dr Alan Fletcher was appointed as National Medical Examiner for England and Wales to provide professional and strategic leadership to medical examiners. The responsibilities are set out in the National Medical Examiner regulations.

The role of the national medical examiner is to provide professional and strategic leadership to regional and trust-based medical examiners. The role supports medical examiners in providing better safeguards for the public, patient safety monitoring and improvement, and informs the wider learning from deaths agenda.

  • Contact the national medical examiner’s team by emailing: nme@nhs.net

Death certification reforms 2024

The government introduced changes to the death certification process to provide independent scrutiny of deaths in all cases, and give bereaved people a voice.

Since 9 September 2024, all deaths in any health setting that are not investigated by a coroner are reviewed by NHS medical examiners.

Find out more about:

Accessing the service

North East and Yorkshire

Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: S75 2EP

Email: barnsley.medicalexaminersservice@nhs.net
Contact number: 01226 432192

Updated:  February 2025

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