Who is the Medical National Examiner?
Alan Fletcher is the National Medical Examiner for England and Wales and was appointed to the role In March 2019.
Dr Fletcher is national clinical lead for Medical Examiner e-learning and is a member of the DHSC’s Death Certification Reform Strategic Board. He was chair of the Royal College of Pathologists Medical Examiners Committee from 2015 to 2019 and remains a member.
Dr Fletcher maintains his clinical practice as consultant in emergency medicine and general internal medicine at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The Role of the National Medical Examiner
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.
The Role of the National Medical Examiner Office
Medical examiner offices in England are 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 families and establish if they have any questions or 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
