Medical Examiners
The Medical Examiner service is an independent service located at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust.
Medical Examiners
All Acute Trusts in England and Local Health Boards in Wales were asked to host Medical Examiner Offices to focus on the certification of all deaths that occur within the Trust Organisation and in the Community setting.
The purpose of the Medical Examiner System is to:
- provide greater safeguards for the public by ensuring proper scrutiny of all non-coronial deaths
- ensure the appropriate direction of deaths to the coroner
- 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
- improve the quality of death certification
- improve the quality of mortality data.
What is a Medical Examiner?
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 death certification processes. The Medical Examiner’s service is an independent service housed/located within Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust and Medical Examiners carry out their duties as independent medical professional.
The role of the Medical Examiner is to:
- Agree the proposed cause of death and the overall accuracy of the medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD) with the doctor completing it.
- Discuss the cause of death with the next of kin/informant and establish if they have questions or any concerns with care before death.
- 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.
Medical examiners are assisted by Medical Examiner Officers, who have specifically trained for the role.
Who are the Medical Examiners?
| Name | Role |
| Dr Katherine Naik | Lead Medical Examiner and Consultant Radiologist |
| Dr Elizabeth Carson | Medical Examiner and Consultant Anaesthetist |
| Dr Owen Johnson |
Medical Examiner and Consultant in Respiratory Medicine |
| Dr Anthony Taylor | Medical Examiner and Consultant in Emergency Medicine |
| Dr Owain Prys-Jones | Medical Examiner and General Practitioner |
| Dr Marie-Anne Fisher | Medical Examiner and General Practitioner |
| Dr Steven Grimshaw | Medical Examiner and Consultant in Elderly Medicine |
| Dr Toria Stocks | Medical Examiner and Consultant in Emergency Medicine |
| Mrs Helen Thomson | Medical Examiner and Consultant Colorectal Surgeon |
| Dr Dave Hall | Medical Examiner and Consultant in Emergency Medicine |
| Dr Neil Allen | Medical Examiner and ICU Consultant |
| Dr Jenifer Moffat | Medical Examiner and General Practitioner |
| Dr Rebecca Hilton | Medical Examiner and General Practitioner |
Who are the Medical Examiner Officers?
| Name | Role |
| Mrs Janice Munford | Senior Lead Medical Examiner Officer |
| Mr Asif Nawaz | Lead Medical Examiner Officer |
| Mrs Fiona Turner | Medical Examiner Officer |
| Mrs Lisa Phillips | Medical Examiner Officer |
How Medical Examiners or Medical Officers contact you?
A Medical Examiner or Medical Examiner Officer will contact you by phone within a few days of your bereavement. This usually takes place after the attending doctor who is issuing the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death has contacted the Medical Examiner Office to discuss the death. If the Coroner is involved in investigating the death, you may not always receive a call from the Medical Examiner Team, but you should expect a call from a Coroners Officer.
If it is inconvenient to take the call at that time or if you would prefer a different member of your family to take the call, please let us know. Delaying the call may delay the process of registering the death, which should be completed within five days wherever possible.
What you can discuss with the Medical Examiners
The Medical Examiner or Medical Examiner Officer will tell you what has been proposed as the cause of death.
You will be asked if it is what you expected and if you need any explanation. Causes of death often use medical terminology which can be confusing. Please feel free to ask for an explanation if you are unsure of what the Medical Examiner or Officer is discussing with you.
A doctor will always provide a cause of death to their best knowledge and belief. Whilst the law does not permit you to reject a treating doctor’s opinion on what the cause of death is, one of the purposes of your discussion with the Medical Examiner or Officer is for you to express your opinion if you disagree with the proposed cause. If you are able to provide new information which may alter the cause of death, the Medical Examiner or Officer will have a discussion with the treating doctor and this will be taken into consideration.
The Medical Examiner or Officer will then ask you if you have any comments or questions regarding the healthcare provided to your deceased relative or if you think there is anything that should be investigated further. Your comments will be fed back to the members of staff involved, if the Medical Examiner thinks it is appropriate to do so. The Medical Examiner will not be able to guarantee that any action will be taken, but they have a duty to pass on serious or persistent problems to the Regional Medical Examiner or Coroner, who will decide what action is appropriate.
The conversation with the Medical Examiner, as well as independent, is covered by the usual rules of medical confidentiality. This means, any information you share with the Medical Examiner or Officer will be kept confidential and not shared with the hosting organisation, unless you provide permission. In some circumstances, it may be necessary for the Medical Examiner to pass information to others (for example the coroner or police) to improve future care, protect other patients or comply with the law.
Medical Examiners FAQs
What will happen when someone dies from 9 September 2024?
From 9 September 2024, all deaths that are not referred to the Coroner will be reviewed by a Medical Examiner before the medical certificate of the cause of death (MCCD) can be issued.
As part of this process, the Medical Examiner will talk to the bereaved family about the cause of death, answer any questions they may have and explain what happens next.
Once the doctor and Medical Examiner have reached an agreement on the cause of death, the doctor will be able to issue the MCCD. When completed, the doctor will send this to the Medical Examiner for sign off. The Medical Examiner team will then send to the registrars’ office who will issue a death certificate to the family.
The registrar will then issue the 'certificate for a burial’ for the funeral director, or an application for cremation to complete and give to the crematorium.
Why is this change happening?
The law is changing to provide better support for bereaved people, increase safeguards and identify opportunities to improve care. Medical examiners already scrutinise most deaths in England and Wales, identifying concerns and helping improve care for patients and support for bereaved people.
What questions will the Medical Examiner’s office ask me?
The medical examiner or their staff will explain what is written on the medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD), what it means and will ask you if you have any questions or concerns about the care the person received before their death.
This is the best time for you to raise questions and speak about anything that concerns you.
Why am I being asked if I have any concerns?
Medical Examiners are independent and a discussion with them or their staff is a chance to have an open conversation and address any concerns with someone who was not involved in providing care to the person who died.
It could be as simple as helping you to understand more about the treatment and cause/s of death or to understand the medical language used. There may be something about the care which you think did not feel right – this is an opportunity to ask questions.
The medical examiner will provide an independent view of causes of death and the care provided. If they find issues with care that need further investigation, they will either refer these on or advise you how you can raise these concerns yourself.
As well as answering your questions, this can help us to provide better care for patients, their families, and carers by recognising ways in which care can be improved in the future.
Can I nominate someone else to talk if it’s too difficult for me?
Yes, the medical examiner or their staff may contact you to ask who you would like them to talk to instead or you can let your GP practice team know if you would rather appoint someone else as a first point of contact.
What if I do not want to speak to the medical examiner or their staff or I do not want to tell them about my concerns?
Medical examiners are independent, so please speak to them or their staff, if possible. They will help explain things to you and are specially trained to answer your questions.
However, we understand this is a difficult time for many people and so speaking to someone is completely your choice. If you are not sure, please talk to them first before deciding. They can give you more information which will help you decide if you want to go ahead – they are specially trained to help people during difficult times and will be very understanding and supportive of your wishes.
If medical examiners find any potential issues, they will be able to raise these with people responsible for the care of the person who died or refer the issues on to someone who can investigate further.
Speaking with the medical examiner and medical examiner officers can help improve the care provided by the NHS to other patients and carers in future.
What would happen if something was not right?
The medical examiner and medical examiner officers are here to listen to your questions and concerns, provide answers if possible and, if necessary, pass them on to someone who can investigate further.
Will the new arrangement mean delays in registering a death?
Medical examiners are working closely with GPs and other community-based health care professionals to make sure the new arrangement goes as smoothly as possible. They are also working with coroners and registrar offices to organise out of hours service arrangements.
If the medical examiner needs more information before they can confirm the cause of death, there may be a short delay before the MCCD can be issued and sent to the registrars’ office. This may also be the case during particularly busy periods such as after bank holidays. However, they will do all they can to make sure the MCCD is issued as quickly as possible and will keep the bereaved family updated.
Will funeral plans or release of the body take longer?
Every effort is made to avoid any delays and work with families and carers to meet the legal requirements for registering deaths and therefore it is not anticipated that the funeral plans or release of the body will take longer.
We have an out of hours, on-call service in place for deaths that occur on weekends and Bank Holidays that require urgent release for burial. to ensure this creates no further delays for families.
How do I contact the Medical Examiner office?
The Medical Examiner Office will contact you. Once you have had contact with the service, they will provide further details of how to access them in the future.
Further information and support
If you have questions about the illness or the treatment of your relative, the Medical Examiner is a senior doctor and may have sufficient knowledge to be able to help you. However, Medical Examiners are not specialists, and they may need to explain how you can seek answers to specialist medical questions.
If you would like any further support or information regarding your bereavement, please contact the Bereavement Office in the Acute Trust where your relative passed away. Alternatively, please contact the GP surgery who is issuing the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death who will be able to assist you and signpost you to support.