What is a 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.
What does a medical examiner do?
Medical examiners seek to answer three questions:
- What caused the death of the deceased?
- Does the coroner need to be notified of the death?
- Was the care before death appropriate?
Medical examiners answer these questions by:
- A proportionate review of relevant medical records
- Interaction with the doctor completing the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death
- Interaction with the bereaved, providing an opportunity to ask questions and to raise concerns.
Find out more about the medical examiner system on the NHS England website.
Contact details
Exeter, East, Mid and Northern Devon
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust: EX2 5DW
rduh.easternmedicalexaminer@nhs.net
01271 314070 (Northern Office)
01392 408396 (Eastern Office)
Torbay and South Devon
Torbay And South Devon NHS Foundation Trust: TQ2 7AA
tsdft.medicalexaminersoffice@nhs.net
01803 654489
Plymouth
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust: PL6 8DH
plh-tr.medicalexaminerservice@nhs.net
01752 439492