New Medical Examiners will be implemented in two phases

The UK Government announced in the summer of 2018 that the Medical Examiner (ME) implementation plan will commence in April 2019. The Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) is leading the project with the President of the Royal College of Pathologists (RCOP) as the lead authority to train and equip MEs across England and Wales.

The implementation plan is in two phases, described by Jeremy Mean, Deputy Director of Health Ethics in the DHSC.

Phase 1 will take effect from April 2019. This will be a ‘non-statutory’ phase of implementation via secondary care by NHS Trusts.

Phase 2 MEs will receive statutory authority through the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 where all deaths will be scrutinised by the Coroner and ME Officer. This will be mandatory and across all communities.

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