Coroner's Officer
We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage…
- A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
- Buy up to 4 weeks additional annual leave (pro-rata) through our salary sacrifice scheme
- Take your bank holidays flexibly to better suit your personal circumstances
- Make Additional Voluntary Contributions (Shared AVCs) to your pension with tax and National Insurance savings
- Access to development opportunities, apprenticeships and qualified coaches to support your personal and professional growth
- Paid volunteering hours each year so you can make a positive impact on our community during your normal working day
- Access to Peer Support Groups through our IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network
- Opportunities to nominate and receive Employee Recognition Awards
- An Our Cambs Rewards account, giving you access to in-store and online discounts as well as our Car Lease and Cycle to Work schemes
Take a look at our Employment Benefits Brochure attached to this advert to find out more.
What will you be doing?Principal Accountabilities:
1 Case Management
Coordinate and manage personal workload of assigned cases, managing the process from reporting receipt
through to closure, generating and distributing appropriate accurate and complete paperwork at all stages, and
monitoring/reporting progress to ensure timely completion of all cases
2 Investigation of Deaths
• Obtain pertinent information from relevant witnesses in circumstances of sudden or unexplained deaths
reported to the Police or Coroner.
• Check/clarify with Doctors as to the possibility of a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD
certificate) being issued, and/or agree actions with the Coroner for further investigations or other
necessary activity.
• Arrange for relevant individuals to identify bodies, attend the identification process if required, and provide
support as appropriate to bereaved families.
• Arrange a post mortem examination if required (and attend if necessary).
3. Relationship Management
• Provide advice and guidance to relatives, doctors, funeral directors, Medical Examiners and other
interested parties to ensure that the role of the Coroner is understood, and correct procedures relating to
the Coroner's enquiry are followed.
• Ensure that all relevant persons are advised of a sudden or unexplained death e.g. relevant Inspectorates,
DSS, Embassies, so that they can meet their obligations and provide the Coroner and Police with the
information required.
Job Description December 2019 (RL)
• Maintain effective communication with all interested parties, in particular:
help them understand the cause of death of the deceased person;
explain, where relevant and on request, why the coroner intends to take no further action in a
particular case;
inform people of their rights and responsibilities;
take account where possible of individual wishes, feelings and expectations, including family and
community preferences, traditions and religious requirements relating to mourning, post-mortem
examinations and to funerals;
unless otherwise requested, contact bereaved people and others involved in the investigation at
least every two months to inform them of the stage of the case, and explain reasons for any delays;
have respect for individual and family privacy and sensitivities;
provide a welcoming, safe and engaging environment;
treat everyone with fairness, respect, dignity and sensitivity;
treat children and young people involved in an investigation in a way and manner appropriate to
their age;
make reasonable adjustments, where possible, to accommodate the needs of those with
disabilities; help people to find further help where this is needed;
provide information about how to make a complaint about the Coroner Service
4 Inquest Management
• If an inquest is necessary, obtain the necessary evidence required by the Coroner to enable them to
discharge their duties, including obtaining statements from witnesses, collating police statements and
medical reports and reports from other departments, to explain the Who, When, Where and How
requirements of the Coronial function.
• Prepare the file for the Coroner and arrange inquests, including venue, warning of witnesses, informing
relatives and interested parties and summoning a jury, if required.
• Attend inquests to maintain relevant processes so that the inquest complies with statutory provisions and
requirements of the Coroner and to ensure the smooth running of the inquest, including swearing in of
witnesses (including working co-operatively with volunteers from the Coroners Support Service for witness
and family care).
• Ensure witnesses and jurors at inquests are aware of procedures for payments of expenses as per Home
Office Fees and Allowances.
• Provide support to relatives and advise them and other witnesses on procedures in the Coroner's Court.
Provide advice on action following inquest i.e. obtaining Death Certificate and appeal procedure.
5 Data Management
• Maintain timely, accurate and complete computerised records relating to each death reported.
6 Human Tissue Act
• Ensure that the Human Tissue Act is adhered to in accordance with local Coronial practise.
• Attend Forensic and suspicious death post mortems to ensure that the Coroners needs are met.
Job Description December 2019 (RL)
7 General
• Contribute to the continued development and wellbeing of the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Coroner
Service (and associated Registration Services) through promoting and practising effective teamwork
and identifying and implementing continuous improvement opportunities
• Support and mentor colleagues as required
• Undertake relevant additional duties as assigned
General knowledge/understanding of/interest in the role of the Coroner’s officer
• Confident understanding and practical experience of dealing with the general public in a customer service
environment
• Confident user of computers and office software, including Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office
• A willingness to develop and maintain broad and deep applied knowledge of relevant aspects of coronial
law and practice, reinforced by participating and experiencing delivery of broader coronial services
• Practical understanding of office administrative processes and practices
• A sound understanding of how different organisations function, and experience of dealing professionally
with a variety of people at different levels within different organisations
• Ability to demonstrate a calm and confident verbal delivery, and the ability to be authoritative and
articulate in addressing large groups of people
• Demonstrate a clear understanding of the requirement for confidentiality
About usCambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.
Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do.
We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don’t meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don’t be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.
Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Through a Guaranteed Interview Scheme, we will offer an interview to all applicants who disclose a disability and meet the essential criteria for a job vacancy. On your application form you can indicate you are disabled. Some examples of reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.
Visit our jobs and careers section to find out more about our wide range of learning and development opportunities; apprenticeships; our wellbeing package; staff benefits; our commitment to equality, diversity and Inclusion.
Salary range
- £31,537 - £36,363 per year