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Medical Examiner

Medical examiner offices in England are independent services, based at acute trusts (and a small number of specialist trusts). They are staffed by a team of medical examiners, supported by medical examiner officers.

The role of these offices is to examine deaths 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 bereaved people and establish if they have questions or any concerns with care before death.
act as a medical advice resource for the local coroner.
identify cases for further review under local mortality arrangements and contribute to other clinical governance processes.

The Government announced its intention to work towards the statutory medical examiner system commencing from April 2024.