Job vacancy: Bereavement Support Officer, Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Southport

Job summary

Main area: Pathology
Grade: NHS AfC: Band 3
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Part time - 16 hours per week
Job ref: 409-7357474

Employer: Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Pathology Administration Office, Pathology Department
Town: Southport
Salary: £24,937 - £26,598 per annum pro rata
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 19/09/2025 23:59

Bereavement Support Officer

NHS AfC: Band 3

After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to "name of trust" transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To liaise with mortuary staff and ward staff on a daily basis to identify deaths which have occurred in the hospital.
To liaise with ward staff and medical staff for the timely and accurate completion of medical certificates of death.
To facilitate the preparation of cremation forms and liaise with funeral directors, doctors and mortuary staff.
To verify and process all documents relating to the registration of deaths for families.
To liaise with Coroners Officers regarding referrals of hospital deaths and relative’s enquiries.
To liaise with GP Surgeries informing them of the date of death and cause of death in a timely manner.
Be able to work as part of a team, promote effective flows in the department to cover leave and ensure office runs smoothly.
Work with managers to review working practices, ways of working and find solution to problems/update procedures.
Liaise with appropriate stakeholders/departments in arranging hospital funerals.
Liaise with the General Registrar’s Office concerning any queries over acceptable causes of death.
Liaise with Coroners Liaison Officer to obtain medical certificates of death where possible for the relatives of patients that have been recently discharged from hospital where the G.P. has been unable to issue, in order to save the relatives from the distress of the deceased having to go through a post mortem.
To supply the Notification of Death report to other hospital departments that use stand-alone recording systems.
When circumstances require, contacting HM Coroner’s Offices concerning any reportable deaths giving any assistance that may be required.
To support the Bereavement Officers in general office duties.
To assist in the production, maintenance and implementation of SOP’s and implementation of new processes.
Participate in the new doctors’ induction day informing them of the requirements of the Bereavement Service
Assist with the investigation and compilation of responses to complaints, helping to ensure this is done within the optimum deadlines set by the Trust.
Recording of deaths and all appropriate information in the death register.
Update the deceased patient’s notes and arrange for them to be sent to the relevant department.
Compile monthly/annual statistics for internal and external use.
Make full use of the computer systems and packages available.
Ensure all information is updated regularly and take responsibility for reporting any faults, incorrect patient data and breaches in security.
Collate audit data for Clinical Pathology Accreditation and Benchmarking, leading for Qualsys on documentation control for Departmental Manager. Undertake audit of own work when necessary.
Establish, maintain and develop professional working relations with colleagues.
Make full use of the computer systems and packages available. Ensure all information is updated regularly and take responsibility for reporting any faults, incorrect patient data and breaches in security.
Effective verbal and written communication should be maintained at all times by extracting the correct and relevant information to deal successfully with queries/requests from GP’s, staff, patients, relatives and other agencies. Show empathy when dealing with calls of a distressing nature. Impart confidential information when instructed
Be aware and responsive to changes within the Trust and adopt a flexible and proactive approach to work.
General office duties including dealing with incoming and outgoing mail, e-mail, photocopier. Participate in housekeeping of the office environment.
Be able to work as part of a team, promote effective flows in the department to cover leave to ensure office runs smoothly. Guidance/mentoring to new clerical/medical staff.
Any other duties as deemed necessary for the effective service for the department.
Undertake audits as required.
Assist with research/data collection as required.
Obtain information requested by Cellular Pathology Service Lead Manager/ASC Manager as and when required.
Work with manager to review working practices, ways of working and find solution to problems.
To work in a flexible manner in accordance with Trust Policy.
Any other duties required by ASC Manager.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

Good level of general education and basic numeracy and literacy skills

Desirable criteria

Word processing/computer skills

Experience

Essential criteria

IT skills with knowledge and experience of Microsoft office products

Desirable criteria

Experience in a clerical capacity/procedure
Previous experience within the NHS
Data entry
Experience of working with the general public

Skills

Essential criteria

Good telephone manner and customer skills
Able to work as part of a team
Maintain confidentiality at all times
Excellent keyboard skills and attention to detail and accuracy
Able to use own initiative and manage/prioritise own workload

Desirable criteria

Knowledge of medical terminology

Other

Essential criteria

Willing and able to learn new skills
Ability to work with minimal supervision
Able to work the hours and duties required by the post
Able to adopt flexible approach when required
Comply with Trust policies and procedures
The ability to receive and relay messages accurately and appropriately
Understanding of confidential nature of the role and aware of Data Protection Act

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [email protected]

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.

The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab)

Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please click here to check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship.

eVisa Update

For successful candidates on selected work and study visa routes, who have completed and paid for their applications will no longer receive a visa vignette in passport as evidence of their permission to enter the UK.

Instead, you will be issued with an eVisa only, which is accessed by creating a UKVI account.

Before travelling to the UK, we advise applicants to:

Create a UKVI account
Link their current passport
Access their eVisa straightaway to check all details. Incorrect information should be reported as soon as possible using the following link: https://www.gov.uk/report-error-evisa
Understand how to generate an eVisa share code

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.

If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.

Flexible Working

We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:

· All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
· There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
· Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.

At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.

Working for Team MWL

Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website.

You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software.

Additional Information

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here.

An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.