Band 6 Legal Officer

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

The closing date is 01 December 2024

Job summary

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) is an incredibly rewarding place to work, offering a working environment with an inclusive culture that looks after and values our people and creates a sense of belonging.

The Legal Services Team are responsible for a portfolio of clinical negligence and public/employer liability claims, Inquests and the provision of healthcare advice. The scope of the work is wide and the workload is busy making this a challenging but satisfying and rewarding role.

We are looking for a talented, enthusiastic and experienced claims handler to join our team as a legal officer. You will be knowledgeable in litigation and coronial processes with excellent communication and time management/prioritisation skills working calmly and confidently under pressure. The post holder will also be someone resilient who is able to manage, on occasion, emotionally challenging Inquests and legal claims.

The role involves collaboration with both internal and external stakeholders and requires regular analysis and interpretation of complex information, contributing to a strategy for the resolution of individual claims, including providing feedback on lessons to be learned, making a positive impact to clinical governance and patient safety teams.

For an informal discussion, please contact Gill Hedges, Senior Legal Officer on 07468 756046.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will manage a busy and mixed caseload of clinical negligence/employer/public liability claims in accordance with Civil Procedure Rules and NHSR Resolution and Trust policies and guidelines alongside Coroner investigations and Inquests. This will require frequent prioritisation to meet changing deadlines. Excellent communication skills are required with the ability to review complex information, consider strategy, and share this with a wide range of people including clinical and non-clinical colleagues. There will also be regular communication with external legal advisors, third party solicitors, NHS Resolution, the Coroner's office and on occasion patients representing themselves

About us

We are recognised as one of the leading NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK. Our vision is to Build Healthier Lives, and we recognise that we need incredible staff to do this.

Our commitment to our staff is to create the best place for them to work, and we are dedicated to:

Investing in the health and wellbeing of our staff, including a commitment of offering flexible working where we can;Offer our staff a wide variety of training and development opportunities, to support their personal and career development objectives.

UHB is committed to ensuring that our staff are treated fairly and feel that they belong, by creating a kind and inclusive environment. This is about equity of opportunity; removing all barriers, including discrimination and ensuring each individual member of staff reach their true potential, achieve their ambitions and thrive in their work. This is more than words. We are taking action. Our commitment to an inclusive culture is embedded at all levels of the organisation where every voice is heard, driven by our diverse and active staff networks, and at Board level by the Fairness Taskforce led by our CEO. We nurture a culture which empowers staff to challenge discriminatory behaviours and to enable people to bring their 'whole self' to a kinder, more connected and bold place to work.

University Hospitals Birmingham is a Smoke-Free premises hospital.

Date posted

12 November 2024

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£37,338 to £44,962 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

304-1069668LD

Job locations

Heartlands Hospital

Bordesley Green E

Birmingham

West Midlands

B9 5SS

Job description

Job responsibilities

*Please Note : For a detailed job description for this vacancy, please see attached Job Description*

Job description

Job responsibilities

*Please Note : For a detailed job description for this vacancy, please see attached Job Description*

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

*Degree or equivalent qualification

Experience

Essential

*Previous clinical negligence/employer/public liability claims experience
*Previous Coronial/Inquest management experience
*Proven ability to work to tight deadlines
*Able to demonstrate a clear understanding of CPR, the claims process and HMC Rules & Regulations
*Strong technical knowledge in areas relevant to legal healthcare practice
*Good understanding of the principles of investigation management, root cause analysis techniques and Clinical Governance

Additional Criteria

Essential

*Strong problem solving ability and capacity to recognise alternative solutions where necessary
*Strong work load management skills
*Ability to interpret national policy and guidance, identify local implications and apply implementation to a local setting
*Critical appraisal of wide ranging documents to facilitate assessment of risk and to ensure appropriate and sensitive communication/management of claims/inquests
*Ability to manage, prioritise and deliver a number of projects and work programmes within timescales
*Ability to work well under pressure
*Good standard of computer literacy including word processing, spreadsheets and databases
*Competent with gathering, collating and analysing data and information from a variety of sources effectively
*Data manipulation including identification, accessing and downloading of data, design set up and development of data entry systems including automation as appropriate
*Makes clear recommendations indicating benefits/consequences and identify risks
*Analyses and uses complex information from a variety of sources and formats and undertakes information analysis
*Strong interpersonal skills
*Good communicator at all levels
*Written -- experience of drafting letters and technical reports with clarity and awareness. Excellent writing skills. Ability to prepare written material presenting complex matters in a logical way using the appropriate style, content and language for the audience
*Oral -- Communicate clearly with appropriate groups.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

*Degree or equivalent qualification

Experience

Essential

*Previous clinical negligence/employer/public liability claims experience
*Previous Coronial/Inquest management experience
*Proven ability to work to tight deadlines
*Able to demonstrate a clear understanding of CPR, the claims process and HMC Rules & Regulations
*Strong technical knowledge in areas relevant to legal healthcare practice
*Good understanding of the principles of investigation management, root cause analysis techniques and Clinical Governance

Additional Criteria

Essential

*Strong problem solving ability and capacity to recognise alternative solutions where necessary
*Strong work load management skills
*Ability to interpret national policy and guidance, identify local implications and apply implementation to a local setting
*Critical appraisal of wide ranging documents to facilitate assessment of risk and to ensure appropriate and sensitive communication/management of claims/inquests
*Ability to manage, prioritise and deliver a number of projects and work programmes within timescales
*Ability to work well under pressure
*Good standard of computer literacy including word processing, spreadsheets and databases
*Competent with gathering, collating and analysing data and information from a variety of sources effectively
*Data manipulation including identification, accessing and downloading of data, design set up and development of data entry systems including automation as appropriate
*Makes clear recommendations indicating benefits/consequences and identify risks
*Analyses and uses complex information from a variety of sources and formats and undertakes information analysis
*Strong interpersonal skills
*Good communicator at all levels
*Written -- experience of drafting letters and technical reports with clarity and awareness. Excellent writing skills. Ability to prepare written material presenting complex matters in a logical way using the appropriate style, content and language for the audience
*Oral -- Communicate clearly with appropriate groups.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such 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.