Inquests Assistant and Serious Incident Investigator

Job description

Job responsibilities

Serious Incident Management

Provide expert advice to all staff on matters related to Serious Incidents and Investigations, ensuring compliance at all times with local and national guidance.

Provide training to staff in undertaking serious incident investigations, check that directorates have appointed a senior clinician to take on the role of family liaison officer and preparing staff for attendance at inquest and attending inquests.

Ensure compliance with all statutory reporting requirements at all times.

Plan, organise and conduct investigations into serious incidents and other incidents, adjusting plans or strategies as necessary with the support and direction of the Serious Incident Team Lead.

Work autonomously as an investigator and in conjunction with colleagues, escalating any identified risks to the Serious Incident Team Lead.

Identify and review all sources of information in relation to incidents under investigation and use analytical skills to identify the care and service deliver problems. The information may include paper and electronic records, witness statements, liaising with stakeholders, service users and their families and carers.

Conduct team reviews and ensure this provides an opportunity for the team to contribute to the findings of the final report. Team reviews will be conducted in line with the Being Open principles.

Effectively interview a wide range of staff and service users about their involvement in serious incidents in difficult circumstances to establish the facts including interview reluctant witnesses.

Provide highly specialist advice in relation to investigations to improve and influence the care and treatment of patients.

Provide and receive highly complex, sensitive and contentious information relating to serious incidents and other investigations and present this information to teams and groups as appropriate.

Liaise with service users, carers, victims and their families following a serious incident and throughout the investigation encouraging and supporting active engagement.

Advising the Serious Incident Team Lead on the quality, suitability and effectiveness of completed investigation reports.

Present complex, unwelcome and sometimes distressing information to a range of internal and external stakeholders including service users and their families, victims and their families, senior clinicians and front line professionals.

Critically evaluate and analyse complex, diverse and sometime contradictory evidence from a wide range of sources.

Together with the Serious Incident Team Lead, make recommendations as to whether people involved in incidents need to be dealt with through other processes using the principles of the Just Culture e.g. disciplinary investigations, police investigations, professional bodies and to exclude them where appropriate from the Serious Incident Investigation process.

Monitor the progress of investigations and implementation of recommendations, providing exception reporting to the Head of Patient Experience and Patient Safety.

Produce, develop and present highly complex quality reports and analysis on incidents to the Trust Board, associated committees and for internal and external reporting requirements as required, with identified learning and thematic analysis.

Review action plans to identify trends and themes and identify relevant actions to ensure learning is embedded into practice.

Undertake audits, assurance visits and debriefs to discuss learning with teams and to review how actions are taken forward and embedded within relevant teams and across wider organisation.

Participate in the development of an effective team and the development of productive working relationships throughout the Trust.

Remain impartial and objective at all times.

Advise, encourage and share knowledge utilising the latest research and practice development, through literature and peer reviews.

Apply the principles and practice of blame free incident investigation across a diverse range of clinical services and recognise when specialist expert opinion is required.

Contribute to the development and improvement of systems and processes for investigations and lead on allocated improvement projects.

Inquest management

Take referrals from the Coroners Office and complete the Coroners investigation/inquest process as required.

Carry out a review of medical records to identify the relevant staff to contribute to the coronial request.

Be competent in assisting/leading on the investigation of expected and unexpected deaths requested by HM Coroner and preparing a report for submission to HM Coroners office.

Be responsible for identifying and implementing a system for the recording and dissemination of learning following inquests.

Support staff involved in coronial investigations and inquests and assist in the preparation of witness statements and medical reports for submission to HM Coroner.

The postholder will be expected to assist in ensuring that the Trust is compliant with applicable law, regulations and rules, including but not limited to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) and the Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013, and to assist in ensuring lessons are learnt from incidents and claims.

Externally, the postholder will liaise with the Police, Prisons, NHS Resolution, Counsel, Claimant Solicitors, Coroners and Coroners Officers.

Although the role is primarily responsible for deaths and serious incidents within our prison services, the postholder will be required to support other Inquests requiring Trust input across the full range of our services.

Person Specification

Education/Qualification

Essential

• Clinical qualification i.e. Registered Nurse, Allied Health Professional, Social Care qualification
• Advanced legal qualification - this can be a qualifying law degree, advanced ILEX, GDL, LPC or equivalent.
• Evidence of training in practice development
• Qualification at Masters level and /or equivalent level of experience
• Other relevant training e.g. relating to leadership, Datix, patient safety

Experience

Essential

• Experience of managing Inquests in a legal department, either in-house or within private practice.
• Experience of working within the NHS system.
• Experience of patient safety, clinical incident reporting & risk management.

Skills

Essential

• Experience of serious incident investigations incidents within a large complex organisation.
• Ability to maintain and manage own workload and work autonomously within the specialist area.
• Excellent report writing

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.

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Bracton Centre

Bracton Lane

Dartford

DA2 7AF

Employer's website

http://oxleas.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)